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U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Claims Four Nations Tournament Title in 5-4 Win Over Sweden

November 14, 2010 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


SUNDSVALL, Sweden - Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) scored one goal in regulation and twice in the shootout and Matt McNeely (Burnsville, Minn.) made 37 saves as the U.S. National Under-18 Team defeated Sweden, 5-4, to claim its second consecutive 2010 Under-18 Four Nations Cup title here today at Sundsvall Arena.

"We are extremely proud of our guys and we showed a lot of character in winning this game and this tournament," said Ron Rolston, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "Sweden is an excellent team and we never gave up."

Sweden opened the scoring early in the game and added another goal midway through the first period to take a 2-0 advantage. Reid Boucher (Grand Ledge, Mich.) cut the lead in half when he tallied Team USA's first goal of the game at 9:16 of the frame. J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio) colleceted an assist on the goal. Sweden would answer, adding two more goals to go up 4-1 heading into the first intermission.

Team USA started their comeback bid at 3:26 in the second period when Russo scored off a pass from Blake Pietila (Brighton, Mich.). The U.S. further chipped away at Sweden's lead when Miller tallied a goal at 16:46 in the stanza on assists by Travis Boyd (Hopkins, Minn.) and Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.).

The third period's lone goal was scored by Team USA when Michael Paliotta (Westport, Conn.) took a pass from Boucher and netted the game-tying goal. The U.S. would put 15 total shots on goal in the period and four in overtime, but could not come up with the game-winner after 65 minutes of play.

Tied at four goals apiece, Sweden and the U.S. would go into a shootout. Boucher notched a shootout goal and Russo added two more, including the game-winner, to give Team USA the win and the tournament title, 5-4.

McNeely made 37 saves for Team USA in the win, while Niklas Lundstrom stopped 43 shots in the loss for Sweden.

NOTES: Team USA outshot Sweden, 48-41 ... Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif./3-3) and Robbie Russo (2-4) led Team USA at the tournament with six points in three games, while Tyler Biggs finished the tournament with five points (2-3) ... The U.S. has now won the tournament championship two years in a row, having captured the 2009 title in Finland ... For Team USA's full roster, click here ... For more information on the event, visit USA Hockey's Under-18 Four Nations Cup homepage ... Find USA Hockey on Facebook at Facebook.com/USAHockey and Twitter at Twitter.com/USAHockey.

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