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NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-17 Team Falls To Top-Ranked Phantoms

January 23, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


BOARDMAN, Ohio -- The U.S. National Under-17 Team fell by a score of 4-2 tonight to the North American Hockey League-leading Mahoning Valley (Ohio) Phantoms at the Boardman Ice Zone.

After a scoreless opening frame the Phantoms started quickly in the second stanza. Brent Dexter scored 27 seconds into the period to give Mahoning Valley the 1-0 advantage and a pair of goals by Phantoms' forward Dustin Cloutier at the 6:28 and 15:29 marks padded the home squad's lead.

Team USA began the comeback effort in third period with a power-play goal from defenseman Sam Lofquist (Faribault, Minn.) at 5:22 of the frame. A Justin Florek (Marquette, Mich.) tally just over three minutes later brought the National Team within striking distance at 3-2. The late push by the National Team would turn out to be futile as a Phantom's with 3:58 to play in the contest essentially sealed the 4-2 victory for Mahoning Valley.

Team USA netminder Michael Clemente (Great Falls, Va.) stopped 32 of 36 shots in the losing effort.

"We fought hard tonight but it just wasn't enough," said U.S. Assistant Coach Patrick Foley (Milton, Mass.) . "You just can't put yourself in a three goal deficit against a team the caliber of Mahoning Valley. We'll look to correct the mistakes we made tonight in order to put us in a better position to win when we take the ice this Friday."

The U.S. National Under-17 Team will continue its road trip as it heads to Traverse City, Mich., on Friday, January 26 to take on NAHL foe Traverse City. Friday's game at the Centre Ice Arena is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Notes: Defenseman Nick Pryor (Woodbury, Minn.) and forward David Wohlberg (South Lyon, Mich.) returned to the Under-17 Team's lineup tonight. Wohlberg returns after missing last weekend's series versus Marquette, while Pryor returns to action for the first time since December 11 when the National Team took on Traverse City ... U.S. National Under-18 Team defenseman Joseph Lavin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was added to the Under-17 Team's roster for this week's series of games. Lavin returns for his first game action in over a month ... Goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and forward Ryan Schnell (Cary, Ill.) will remain with the U.S. National Under-17 Team for this week's slate of games ... The Under-17 Team's leading scorers Vinny Saponari (Powder Springs, Ga.) and Jordan Schroeder (Lakeville, Minn.) along with goaltender Nick Maricic (Alta Loma, Calif.) are currently competing with U.S. National Under-18 Team and missed tonight's game at Mahoning Valley ... National Team defensemen Ryan Grimshaw (Rochester, N.Y.) and Grant Scott (Sewickley, Pa.) along with forward Richard Manley (South Buffalo, N.Y.) remain out of the lineup due to injury.... The Phantoms lead the NAHL with 65 points through 43 games this season.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2007


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