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U.S. National Under-17 Team's Rally Comes Up Just Short Against Alpena

November 2, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release

ALPENA, Mich. - Strengthened by two-goal efforts from Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.) and Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.), the U.S. National Under-17 Team erased a three-goal deficit, but Alpena (9-7-1) held on to win, 6-5, in a tightly-contested North American Hockey League contest Thursday night at Northern Lights Arena.

"I was proud of our effort and competitiveness tonight," said Ron Rolston, head coach of the U.S. National Under-17 Team. "We are going to have to play with this kind of emotion and attention to detail at the Four Nations Tournament in Russia next week. Overall, we are definitely moving in the right direction."

The IceDiggers scored the only two goals of the first period when Eric Peterson buried a shot from the slot at 9:25 and Isaac Viau put home a rebound on the power play at 12:18.

Bryan Ross chipped in another goal with a man advantage to give Alpena a 3-0 cushion at the 3:44 mark of the second period.

Team USA then rattled off two goals of its own in less than a two-minute span. Kyle Palmieri put his team on the board at 5:41 with a power-play marker off helpers from Zach Golembiewski (St. Clair, Mich.) and Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.). Golembiewski took a shot from the point and rebound came right onto the stick of Palmieri, who was camped out right in front of the net.

Jeremy Morin cut the visitors' lead to 3-2 at the 6:56 mark with helper from Zach Golembiewski and David Valek (Orem, Utah). Golembiewski has the puck just below the left circle when he sent a pin-point centering pass over to Morin in the low slot. Morin wristed a low shot by Nathanial Pellegrino on the stick side.

Jimmy McCusker and Jon Puskar allowed Alpena to re-gain a three-goal advantage with power-play goals at 9:59 and 12:57 of the second stanza.

Team USA would not go away, however, as it scored twice in a 52-second span later in the period. Beau Schmitz (Howell, Mich.) scored the first goal at 17:05 when he drilled a slapshot past Pellegrino from the low point after a Jimmy Hayes (Dorcester, Mass.) attempt caromed off the net out to where he was positioned. Steven West (Milford, Mich.) was credited with the second assist on Schmitz's tally.

Kyle Palmieri lit up the scoreboard again at 17:57 as his wrist shot beat Pellegrino top shelf on the glove side. Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge, Ill.) doled out the lone assist on the play.

Jeremy Morin knotted the score up at five apiece with 6:18 left in the third session thanks to a nifty cross-ice pass from Drew Shore (Denver, Colo.). Morin received Shore's pass in stride just inside the Alpena zone and he used his speed to gain a breakaway. The shifty winger then put a wrister above Pellegrino up high on the glove side.

The home team vaulted ahead for good at the 17:13 mark as a result of Isaac Viau's second goal of the night.

After a penalty was called on the IceDiggers with 55 ticks left in regulation, Team USA pulled goaltender Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.) for the extra attacker. The attempt provided several scoring opportunities, but Alpena held on to preserve its victory.

Maxwell poured in 28 saves for Team USA and saw his record drop to 3-4-0 on the season. Nathanial Pellegrino turned away 23 shots for the IceDiggers.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team (5-7-0) will now compete in its first international competition of the season at the Under-17 Four Nations Tournament Nov. 7-1 in Dmitrov, Russia. Team USA opens up the event with an exhibition vs. Russia next Wednesday (Nov. 7) at 6 p.m.

NOTES: Kyle Palmieri now is alone atop Team USA's scoring column with 12 points (8-4) ... Palmieri has amassed three multi-goal games and five multi-point games this year ... Both feats are team-highs ... WiIth two goals tonight, Jeremy Morin has compiled two multl-goal performances and four multi-point efforts this season ... Zach Golembiewski notched his second multi-point game of 2007-08 with two assists this evening ... Three stars: 1) Erik Peterson, Alpena; 2) Isaac Viau, Alpena; 3) Jimmy McCusker, Alpena.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

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