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U.S. National U-18 Team Posts 7-2 Win Over Mahoning Valley

September 28, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Behind a four-goal first period, the U.S. National Under-18 Team picked up a 7-2 win over the Mahoning Valley Phantoms here tonight at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

"We had a good team effort this evening," said USA head coach John Hynes. "I was really happy with our team's mental focus and preparation."

In a span of five minutes, four different Team USA players tallied goals to give the U.S. squad an early lead. Robbie Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) started the scoring at the 5:14 mark as he fired a low shot past Mahoning Valley netminder Jordan Tibbett for his third goal of the year. Vinny Saponari (Power Springs, Ga.) tallied his first goal of the season just 1:12 later to give Team USA a 2-0 advantage. Sean Lorenz (Littleton, Colo.) and Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh, Pa.) closed out the scoring for Team USA in the opening stanza at 8:06 and 10:04, respectively.

A Mahoning Valley power-play goal by Brent Dexter cut the lead to 4-1 at the 8:11 mark of the middle frame. However, a Ryan Hegarty (Arlington, Mass.) blast from the point that just snuck past Tibbet gave Team USA another four-goal cushion, 5-1.

With less that three minutes remaining in the second period, defenseman David Warsofsky (Marshfield, Mass.) tallied his third goal of the season to put the U.S. squad up 6-1. Warsofsky took a feed from Jordan Schroeder (Lakeville, Minn.) along the boards and put the puck past a screened Tibbet.

Mahoning Valley's Eric Ringel added a power-play marker three minutes into the third period to pull the Phantoms to within 6-2, but Ryan Grimshaw (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up his first goal of the year at the 17:11 mark to give Team USA the final 7-2 win.

Michael Clemente (Great Falls, Va.) earned the win in net, stopping 19 shots. Tibbett finished with 38 stops in picking up the loss.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team (4-0-0-1) returns to action tomorrow night (Sept. 29) when it faces Mahoning Valley at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. Game time is set for 7 p.m. EDT.

NOTES: Vinny Saponari and David Warsofsky each notched a goal and an assist in the win ... Colin Reddin (Corona Del Mar, Calif.), Jordan Schroeder (Lakeville, Minn.) and Kevin McCarey (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) each finished with two assists ... Team USA's seven-goal outing was its best offensive showing of the season ... Three stars: 1) Vinny Saponari, USA; 2) Kevin McCarey, USA; and 3) Derek Graham, Mahoning Valley.

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