USHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Under-18 Select Team Defeats Sweden, 5-4, in Overtime at Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament

Published on August 13, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


PIESTANY, Slovakia - Lukas Sutter (Whitefish, Mont.) notched two goals and Connor Murphy (Dublin, Ohio) scored the game-winning goal in overtime, as the U.S. Under-18 Select Team defeated Sweden, 5-4, here today in the semifinal round of the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. With the victory, Team USA will face Canada in the championship game tomorrow (Aug. 14) at 9:00 a.m. EDT in Piestany, Slovakia.

"I thought we had a strong start and played very well," said Tim Army, head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Select Team. "We really settled into our game and did the things that we needed to reach the championship game."

Sweden took an early 2-0 lead, but Sutter got Team USA on the board just under two minutes into the second period to cut the deficit in half. Skating into the attacking zone on a two-on-one rush, Cason Hohmann (Plymouth, Mich.) slid a pass through the Swedish defenseman to Sutter, who fired a one-timer past Sweden goaltender Marcus Due-Boje.

After Sweden regained a two-goal advantage at the 4:25 mark of the second, the U.S. answered yet again with a goal just one minute later. Tanner Sorenson (Anchorage, Alaska) knocked in a rebound in front of the net, after shots by Justin Selman (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) and Theo Di Pauli (Woodridge, Ill.) were turned aside.

Team USA then rallied to score two second-period power-play goals. Sutter netted his second goal of the game midway through the frame and Seth Ambroz (New Prague, Minn.) scored at the 15:55 mark to give the U.S. a 4-3 advantage heading into the third. Ambroz connected with John Gaudreau's (Carney's Point, N.J.) pass in the slot for a one-timer.

Sweden scored the lone third-period goal to send the game into overtime. But just 41 seconds into the extra frame, Team USA netted the game-winner. After carrying the puck the length of the ice, Murphy sent a pass to Ambroz and skated to the net. Ambroz then chipped the puck back to Murphy, who wrapped around the goal and poked the puck behind Due-Boje for the score.

NOTES: U.S. goaltender Steve Michalek (Glastonbury, Conn.) made 24 saves in the win ... The U.S. will play in the championship game of the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament for the first time since 2006 ... Cason Hohmann leads Team USA with six points (3-3) ... The U.S. now has a 3-0-1-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record through the semifinal round ... The 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament features eight countries split into two groups for preliminary-round play. This year, Group A (Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, United States) played its preliminary-round games in Breclav, Czech Republic, while Group B (Canada, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland) played its preliminary-round games in Piestany, Slovakia ... Live scoring of Team USA's games can be found here ... The U.S. has finished in the top three of the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament nine times since the tournament's inception in 1991, including a first place finish in 2003. The U.S. finished second in the tournament six times (1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2006) and finished third twice (1991, 1995) ... The 22 players on the 2010 U.S. Under-18 Select Team represent 13 states, with three players coming from Ohio ... Six of the players were members of the 2009 U.S. Under-17 Select Team that competed at the 2009 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament in Fussen, Germany, including goaltender Jay Williams (McLean, Va.); forwards Cason Hohmann, Alex Racino (Merrill, Wis.) and Lukas Sutter; and defensemen Brian Cooper (Anchorage, Alaska) and Connor Murphy ... Five members of the U.S. Under-18 Select Team competed in the United States Hockey League in 2009-10, including forwards Seth Ambroz (Omaha Lancers), Theo Di Pauli (Chicago Steel) and Hohmann (Cedar Rapids Roughriders), as well as defensemen Cooper (Fargo Force) and Murphy (U.S. National Under-17 Team). The USHL is the only Tier I junior hockey league in the United States ... For Team USA's full roster, click here ... The 2010 U.S. Under-18 Select Team is coached by Tim Army, head men's ice hockey coach at Providence College. Army has twice served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team (1994, 1996), and was an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey ... Jay Varady, associate head coach with the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips, and Chadd Cassidy, assistant coach at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, are the assistant coaches ... Army, Varady and Cassidy are all Level 4 USA Hockey certified coaches ... The U.S. Under-18 Select Team was selected following the annual USA Hockey Boys' Select 17 Player Development Camp that took place July 7-13, at The Sports Centre at MCC in Rochester, N.Y. The camp provides top young players with concentrated on- and off-ice training and instruction, as well as the opportunity to compete at a national level against other players from their age group.

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United States Hockey League Stories from August 13, 2010


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