NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Falls to No. 10 North Dakota 5-4 in Overtime

Published on December 1, 2006 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The U.S. National Under-18 Team fell to No.10 University of North Dakota, 5-4 in overtime tonight at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Team USA opened the scoring 9:41 into the game when John Albert (Concord, Ohio) beat Fighting Sioux netminder Phillippe Lamoureux to give Team USA the 1-0 advantage. UND replied 4:58 later in the opening frame when Chirs Porter scored to knot the game at one.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team gained the 2-1 advantage when Colin Wilson (Greenwich, Conn.) buried a pass from linemate Jimmy Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.) out front of the Fighting Sioux net. UND defenseman Robbie Bina notched his first of two goals on the night midway through the second period on the power-play to tie the game at two.

In the third period North Dakota gained its first lead of the game when a Jonathan Toews pass was deflected into the U.S. net by a Team USA defenseman 3:47 into the third period. North Dakota gained the 4-2 advantage 2:19 later in the game when T. J. Oshie beat U.S. netminder Josh Unice (Toledo, Ohio) after dancing untouched through the U.S. zone with the puck.

Team USA replied 4:37 later when Matt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) won a face-off to Brennan Vargas (Coon Rapids, Minn.) who tipped the puck to Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) at the point. Cole fired a shot that Mike Hoeffel (North Oaks, Minn.) tipped at the right side of the net to beat Lamoureux and cut the Fighting Sioux lead to 4-3. Team USA defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored when Rust won the faceoff deep in the Sioux zone right to Shattenkirk who blasted a shot past Lamoureux to knot the game at 4-4. In the final minute of the third period North Dakota peppered Unice with shots but the U.S. netminder was up to the task and sent the game to overtime.

In overtime, North Dakota defenseman Robbie Bina found a loose puck in the U.S. slot and made no mistake as he a buried it over Unice's shoulder to give UND the 5-4 victory.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team will take on the Fargo-Moorhead Jets of the North American Hockey League tomorrow night at 8 p.m. CST at the Carlson Colisium in Fargo, N.D.

NOTES: Tonight was the third overtime loss to a top-ten ranked team this season (5-4 Boston College, 3-2 University of Michigan) for Team USA ... U.S. defenseman Cade Fairchild (Duluth, Minn) left the game after being hit in the leg with a shot. Fairchild is expected to play in tomorrow's game in Fargo.

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2006


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