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First-Place St. Louis Defeats U.S. Nat'l Under-18 Team, 6-4

March 7, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The U.S. National Under-18 Team received three-point efforts from David Wohlberg (South Lyon, Mich.) and Ryan Hegarty (Arlington, Mass.), but the St. Louis Bandits notched a 6-4 win at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube Friday night.

St. Louis scored the first goal of the game at the 7:14 mark of the opening period when Ben Miller poked a shot from the low slot through the legs of Team USA goaltender Joe Cannata (Wakefield, Mass.).

Sam Lofquist (Faribault, Minn.) put Team USA on the scoreboard just 15 seconds into the second frame, off helpers from Wohlberg and Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.). Lofquist unleashed a wrist shot from the right point that beat Bandits' netminder Cal Heeter low on the glove side.

St. Louis quickly regained the lead, however, as Ben Warda scored a shorthanded tally at 3:08 of the middle period.

Later in the stanza, the two teams combined to score four goals in a span of just under eight minutes. Wohlberg tallied for Team USA at 11:27 after he tipped Lofquist's shot from the point past Heeter, right in front. Ryan Hegarty (Arlington, Mass.) also picked up an assist on the play.

Warda tacked on his second shorty of the night at the 12:58 mark of the frame, but Team USA struck again 13 seconds later. While on the power play, Robbie Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) tallied his 15th goal of the year with help from Hegarty and Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.). Czarnik slipped a shallow angle shot by Heeter on the stick side.

St. Louis' Mike Merrifield completed the period's scoring with a tally at 18:53. Wes Love added the visitors fifth goal of the night, on the power play, at the 3:59 mark of the third period.

Wohlberg brought Team USA within one goal at 10:21 of the final frame when he flipped a backhander from close range up high past Heeter. Hegarty handed out his third assist of the evening, while Colin Moore (Medfield, Mass.) also pitched in a helper on the goal.

Mike Leone added a power-play marker with 1:05 left in the third frame to give the Bandits a two-goal cushion they would not relinquish.

Cannata finished with 19 saves in the contest, and now owns an 11-13-3 record in the 2007-08 campaign. Heeter stopped 31 shots for St. Louis, and improved to 21-5-1 overall.

The U.S. Nat'l Under-18 Team (22-19-2-4) plays the rematch with the Bandits tomorrow night at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.

Notes: David Wohlberg (two goals, one assist) compiled his highest single-game point total of the year ... Ryan Hegary (three assists) recorded a season-high three points.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

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