USHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National U17 Team Drops Russia, 7-4, At World Under-17 Challenge

December 31, 2009 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


IROQUOIS FALLS, Ont. - J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio) and Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) each notched a pair of goals as the U.S. National Under-17 Team dropped Russia, 7-4, here tonight in its third game at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Team USA improved to 3-0-0-0 and has clinched a spot in the semifinals.

Despite a valiant effort by netminder Matt McNeely (Burnsville, Minn.), Team USA found itself in a 1-0 hole coming out of the first period. Maxim Kazakov put Russia on the board with just 1:20 to play in the frame when he snapped home Maxim Shalunov's feed from the left side. McNeely made 12 saves in the period, including a dazzling glove save at the 13:08 mark to keep the Russian attack at bay.

The second stanza was a different story as Team USA tallied five times including three power-play markers. Tyler Biggs (Cincinnati, Ohio) knotted the score for Team USA when he took a feed from Reid Boucher (Grand Ledge, Mich.) and roofed a shot into the right corner for a power-play tally 3:16 into the middle period. The U.S. took the lead at 7:14 when Alexx Privitera (Old Tappan, N.J.) one-timed a Travis Boyd (Hopkins, Minn.) feed from the center point for another power-play marker. Russia's Maxim Shalunov knotted the score, 2-2, after his one-timer from the right side slipped through McNeely. For the rest of the period, it was all Team USA.

J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio) snuck a wrister past netminder Andrey Makarov from the left half-wall at 13:02 to retake the lead for the U.S. Dan Carlson (Corcoran, Minn.) doubled the gap at 16:26 after he stole the puck from a Russian defender, streaked towards the goal and slid a shot from the right side that banked off of Makarov and in. Just 33 seconds later, Russo's blast from the center point zipped past Makarov to give the U.S. a three-goal advantage heading into the final frame.

Russo made it 6-2 after his wrister from inside the left faceoff circle found the back of the net 4:12 into the third period. Russia answered back with a pair of power-play markers just 37 seconds apart starting with Kazakov's second tally at 9:52. Russia's next goal came after Alexander Khokhlachev converted on a rebound chance from the doorstep, cutting the U.S. lead to 6-4. Miller put a stop to the comeback effort after his power-play marker at 16:31, which proved to cap the scoring at 7-4.

McNeely made 28 saves to earn his second win of the tournament.

The U.S. will take on Canada-Pacific Saturday at 7 p.m. in Kirkland Lake, Ont., with a chance to clinch first place in Group B.

NOTES: Robbie Russo was named Team USA's player of the game... Russo (2-1--3), J.T. Miller (2-1--3) and Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif./0-3--3) paced Team USA with three points each... Miller, whose four goals are tied for the tournament lead and Grimaldi, who has a tourney-best five assists, are tied for the overall tournament lead with seven points apiece... Team USA out shot Russia by a 51-32 margin and notched five power-play goals on the night... The U.S. National Under-17 Team has outscored its opponents, 17-6, in tournament play... The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the premier event for the under-17 age group, runs from Dec. 29, 2009 - Jan. 4, 2010 in Timmins, Ont. In addition to the United States, the event includes five Canadian regional teams (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Pacific and West), as well as national teams from the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden. Team USA has won the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge twice (2001, 2002) and has placed in each of the last two years (second, 2008; third, 2009)... FASTHockey is providing live coverage of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and will carry both semifinal match-ups. For a complete schedule of FASTHockey's webcasts from the Challenge, visit FASTHockey.com.

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United States Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2009


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