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U.S. National Under-17 Team Falls to St. Louis, 5-4

September 15, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The U.S. National Under-17 Team dropped a 5-4 decision to St. Louis in North American Hockey League action at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube on Saturday night.

Team USA jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, 7:29 into the game, on a goal by Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.). Bourque took a pass from Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.) and beat St. Louis netminder Mike Johnson with a quick wrister from the top of the face-off circle for the first goal of the evening.

The Bandits evened the game at one, less than two minutes later, as Grant Gorczyca beat USA goalie Michael Clemente (Great Falls, Va.) in a scramble in front of the USA net. Kevin Lynch (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) scored his first goal as a member of Team USA at the 15:23 mark of the opening stanza to send his team to the locker room with a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) put Team USA up 3-1, 6:55 in the middle stanza. On a 3-on-1 break, Johnson made the intial save on Morin's shot but couldn't control the rebound as Morin was able to grab the loose puck and send it past the Bandits netminder. However, just 1:17 later, St. Louis pulled back within one, 3-2, on a tally by Kyle O'Kane and evened the game at 3-3 on a marker by Blake O'Connor at 12: 22.

The Bandits took a 4-3 lead on a power-play goal by Mike Merrifield at the 6:21 mark of the third period. It took just 13 seconds for Team USA to draw even on Morin's second goal of the contest as Morin blasted a shot between the legs of the St. Louis goalie. Merrifield recorded his second goal of the period at the 12:49 mark as St. Louis skated to the 5-4 win.

"Despite the loss, we had a positive weekend and we were able to see quite a few bright spots," said U.S. Head Coach Ron Rolston. "We were able to get the guys alot of ice time and that experience will pay off down the stretch."

The U.S. National Under-17 Team returns to action Sept. 28-28 when it travels to Marquette, Mich., for a two-game set with the Marquette Rangers.

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