NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National U17 Team Tops Canada West, 7-0

Published on January 3, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


OCEANSIDE, B.C. - Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) made 29 saves, while Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa.) notched four points (1-3) as the U.S. National Under-17 Team blanked Canada West, 7-0, here tonight in its final preliminary match up of the 2009 World Under-17 Challenge. With the win, Team USA finished in first place in Pool B with a 4-0-0-0 record and will meet Canada Pacific in the semifinal Saturday (Jan. 3) at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m.) ET in Port Alberni, B.C.

Team USA took the lead with just 18 seconds remaining in the first period. With Team USA down one man, Austin Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) stole the puck from a West defender at the U.S. blue line and sprung Nick Shore (Denver, Colo.) on a breakaway. Shore's first attempt was thwarted by netminder Derek Tendler, but Shore picked up his own rebound and slammed the puck into the net.

Luke Moffatt (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) doubled the U.S. lead after he tipped Saad's feed past Tendler from between the faceoff circles at 15:44 of the second stanza. With just 1:39 remaining in the second period, Chase Balisy (Fullerton, Calif.) picked up the puck in the neutral zone, streaked down the left side and slid the puck between the netminder's legs to make it 3-0.

In the final frame, Michael Mersch (Park Ridge, Ill.) tipped Derek Forbort's (Duluth, Minn.) through Tendler at 9:46. Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) recorded Team USA's second shorthanded marker when he stole the puck from a West defenseman at the U.S. blue line, broke in alone and roofed a shot into the upper right corner to make it 5-0. Saad and Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) each tallied 12 seconds apart to account for the 7-0 final.

NOTES: Jack Campbell was named U.S. Player of the Game ... Brandon Saad is now tied for the tournament lead with nine points (4-5) in four games ... Willie Yanakeff (Jerome, Mich.) was in net for 12 seconds during the third period after Campbell had to have his equipment repaired ... Campbell and Yanakeff each have three shut outs this season ...Team USA has outscored its opponents 29-5 during the Challenge ... The U.S. met Canada Pacific in a pre-tournament match up on December 28 and recorded an 11-0 victory in Port Alberni, B.C. ... The U.S. and Canada Ontario of Group A are the only undefeated teams in tournament play ... The 2009 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge features ten international teams including five Canadian regional teams (Ontario, Quebec, Pacific, West and Atlantic), Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and the United States ... The U.S. National Under-17 Team has captured the tournament title twice (2001, 2002) and has placed second in each of the last two years of the event.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2009


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