NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Team weekly

Published on March 1, 2004 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


UNITED STATES NATIONAL UNDER-18 TEAM
The U.S. Under-18 Team fell to the Springfield Jr. Blues, 5-2, on Sunday, February 29, 2004 at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. Jack Skille and Chad Kolarik scored for the US squad.

THIS WEEK'S ACTION
The U-18 will play the Soo Kewadin Casino Indians on Friday, March 5, 2004 at 7:05 pm. The Indians are the top team (second overall) in the NAHL North Division, having posted a 37-4-6 record, 80 points.

PREVIOUS WEEK RECAP
Sunday, Feb. 29 – Springfield Jr. Blues 5, USA-18 2
The US-18 Team battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game early in the third period but could not hold off Hank Carisio (three goals) and the Springfield Jr. Blues as the US fell 5-2.

Springfield began the scoring at 10:26 of the first period when Mike Mannina pinched in from his right point position to receive a pass from the left side and beat goalie Jeff Frazee (Burnsville, Minn.). Carisio made it 2-0 for the Jr. Blues when his bad angle shot from the right corner hit Frazee up high and trickled over his shoulder at 17:48.

Chad Kolarik (Abington, Pa.) cut Team USA's deficit in half at 13:57 of the second frame when he scored on the power play. Tom Fritsche (Parma, Ohio) earned an assist on the play as his shot from the right side was blocked but bounced to Kolarik in the slot where he settled the puck and fired high over the scrambling goalie.

Just 54 seconds into the third period, Jack Skille (Madison, Wisc.) scored his first goal as a member of the Under-18 team. Carrying the puck from left to right behind the net, Skille decided against trying to stuff the puck into the goal on a backhand, instead he pivoted and shot in one motion from the right circle to send the puck high into the near corner of the net to knot the game at 2-2.

SUNDAY – SPRINGFIELD @ USA
TEAM SCORING PIM PP SHOT W/L Goalie
Jr. Blues 2-0-3 15 0-1 33 Russell (37-39)
U-18 0-1-1 9 1-4 39 Frazee (28-33)

Scoring:
USA: Kolarik (PPG), Skille (G), Fritsche (A), DeSantis (A), Kessel (A), Davis (A)
Springfield: Carisio (3G), Solberg (3A), Semenov (3A), Hernandez (G, A), Stendahl (2A), Mannina (G), Jurynec (A)






USA HOCKEY
National Team
Development Program
Weekly Release – 3/1/04
Cont.
UNITED STATES NATIONAL UNDER-17 TEAM
The U.S. Under-17 Team went 1-1 at home against the Springfield Jr. Blues. On Friday, February 27th they defeated the Jr. Blues 4 to 1 and fell to the same Springfield squad 3-1 in the follow-up game on Saturday the 28th.

THIS WEEK'S ACTION
The U-17 team faces NAHL foes the Soo Indians on Saturday, March 6 at 3:00pm and the Jr. Blues at 3:00pm on Sunday March 7th both games at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, Ann Arbor, MI.

PREVIOUS WEEK RECAP
Friday, Feb. 27 –Springfield Jr. Blues 1, US-17 4
The Under-17 Team earned a 4-1 victory over the Springfield Jr. Blues. Peter Mueller (Bloomington, Minn.) broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with two tallies for his 13th and 14th goals of the season. In net, Jeff Frazee (Burnsville, Minn.) made 36 stops to earn the win.

Heading into the second period of play the Jr. Blues held a 1-0 advantage until Chris Cahill (North Andover, Mass.) knotted the game at a goal apiece. Mueller took the initial shot that the goalie deflected high into the slot where Cahill caught the puck and dropped it to his stick. Skating around to the left, Cahill then roofed a shot over the downed goalie at 3:57.

Mueller scored the eventual game-winning goal at 7:40 of the third period thanks to a Springfield miscue. A defender lost control of the puck deep in his own zone and it ended up on the stick of Mueller, who was then able to beat the surprised goalie. At 13:29 Mueller added some insurance when he cut to the middle, received a pass from John Kemp (Arcadia, Calif.), and deked the goalie before depositing the puck into the vacant net on his backhand. Brandon Scero (Canton, Mich.) notched an empty-net tally to cap the scoring at 19:47.

FRIDAY – SPRINGFIELD @ US-17
TEAM SCORING PIM PP SHOT W/L Goalie
Jr. Blues 1-0-0 13 0-1 37 Russell (23-27)
US-17 0-1-3 11 0-2 27 Frazee (36-37)

Scoring:
USA: Mueller (2G, A), Scero (G), Cahill (G), Mitera (A), Morin (A), Foligno (A)
Springfield: Klusendorf (G), Lee (A)

Saturday, Feb. 28 – Springfield 3, US-17 1
The Under-17 squad dropped a 3-1 decision to the Jr. Blues on Saturday evening. Nick Foligno (Hummelstown, Pa.) gave Team USA a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Springfield tied things up five minutes later and scored the game-winner midway through the third stanza.

Foligno got the scoring started with a great individual effort at 7:59 of the opening frame. Foligno blocked a shot in his own zone and took off down the left wing on a two-on-two. He then slid the puck through his defender's legs while avoiding the check and broke in alone on the goalie where he was able to fake backhand and flip the puck over the goalie's extended leg on the forehand. The Jr. Blues responded at 13:30 while on the power play when Chad Solberg knocked in a rebound shot. Leading up to the tying goal, Team USA had spent 3:14 of the previous 3:20 killing a penalty, including a successful five-on-three stop.













USA HOCKEY
National Team
Development Program
Weekly Release – 3/1/04

After nearly 40 minutes of scoreless play the Jr. Blues scored the game-winning goal 11:24 into the third period. Chris Bolognino beat goalie Billy Blase (Santa Monica, Calif.) with a quick backhand shot following a centering pass from behind the net. Team USA had a late chance when the Jr. Blues took a penalty at 14:44, but Springfield denied the US on several occasions. The Jr. Blues added an empty-net goal to wrap up the scoring at 19:19. Springfield's Ian Harper made 27 stops while Blase turned aside 31 shots.

Saturday – SPRINGFIELD @ US-17
TEAM SCORING PIM PP SHOT W/L Goalie
Jr. Blues 1-0-2 15 1-4 34 Harper (27-28)
US-17 1-0-0 19 0-2 28 Blase (31-33)

Scoring:
USA: Foligno (G)
Springfield: Solberg (G, A), Bolognino (G, A), Gumaer (G), Hernandez (A), Stendahl (A)


ALUMNI NEWS (click on to read story/press release)
COLORADO AVANLANCHE DEFENSEMEN JM LILES FEATURED ON ESPN.COM

US JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM, FEATURING 15 FORMER USNTDP PLAYERS, SELECTED USOC TEAM OF THE MONTH OF JANUARY

JIM HOWARD (MAINE) NAMED HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

JIM HOWARD (MAINE) NAMED HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from March 1, 2004


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