USHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National U18 Team Bests Sweden, 4-1, At 6 Nations Cup

Published on February 11, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


MINSK, Belarus - Adam Clendening (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) notched a pair of goals to help the U.S. National Under-18 Team top Sweden, 4-1, here today in its third game at the 2010 Under-18 Six Nations Cup. With the victory, Team USA improved to 3-0-0-0 in tournament play and will meet Russia Saturday in a battle of the only unbeaten teams at the event.

Clendening gave Team USA the early 1-0 lead after he took a feed from Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) and put the puck past netminder Johan Gustafsson at 12:16 of the first frame. U.S. goaltender Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) turned aside all seven shots he faced in the first 20 minutes to keep Team USA ahead.

Just 2:55 into the second period, Jon Merrill (Brighton, Mich.) slid the puck over to Clendening who fired it past Gustafsson to give Team USA a two-goal lead. Merrill added a goal of his own at 13:23 to make it 3-0. Bryan Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.) recorded assists on the play. Campbell made another seven saves to keep Sweden at bay.

With Team USA killing an early penalty, Johan Sundstrom put Sweden on the board 3:18 into the third stanza. Campbell made nine stops to thwart the relentless Swedish attack and Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) tallied a shorthanded empty-net goal with just 1:04 remaining in regulation to ice the 4-1 victory for the U.S.

Campbell turned away 23 total shots to earn his second win at the Six Nations.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team takes on Russia Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. EST) at Sports Palace Minsk.

NOTES: Adam Clendening was named Team USA's Player of the Game. Clendening (2-0--2) and Jon Merrill (1-1--2) posted two points apiece... Five players are tied atop Team USA's leaderboard with four points each including Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa./4-0--4), Clendening (2-2--4), Luke Moffatt (Paradise Valley, Ariz./2-2--4), Nick Shore (Denver, Colo./1-3--4) and Jason Zucker (1-3--4). Saad's four goals are tied for the tournament lead... Goaltenders Jack Campbell and Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) went 125:35 without giving up a goal before Sweden's power-play tally today. Iles leads all tournament goaltenders with a 0.00 goals-against average, while Campbell is tied for second with a 1.50 goals-against average... Team USA has outscored its opponents by a 20-3 margin in its first three games... Team USA has captured the Six Nations Cup, which was previously held as a Five Nations tournament, in each of the last three years... The U.S. National Under-18 Team will return to Belarus for the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Under-18 Championship April 13-23 in Minsk and Bobruisk.

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2010


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