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NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Outlasts Sweden, 3-2

February 5, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


NYKOPING, Sweden - Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.) made 32 saves and Kyle Palmieri's (Montvale, N.J.) second-period goal proved to be the game-winner as the U.S. National Under-18 Team downed Sweden, 3-2, in its opening game of the 2009 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament.

Team USA opened the scoring when Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.) took a feed from Kenny Ryan (Franklin Village, Mich.) near the goal line, attacked the net and put a shot past netminder Johan Gustafsson 4:23 into the game. John Henrion (Holden, Mass.) doubled the U.S. advantage after streaking into the Sweden zone and rifling a wrist shot over the outstretched glove of Gustafsson at 17:26. Maxwell stopped all seven shots he saw in the period.

Mattias Lindstrom's tally at 6:19 of the second stanza cut Sweden's deficit in half. Just 1:05 later, Kevin Lynch's (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) pass sprung Palmieri who broke in all alone and wired a shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 3-1.

Carl Klingberg brought Sweden within a goal at 9:42 of the final frame, but Maxwell stood tall the rest of the way as Team USA earned the 3-2 victory.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team returns to action tomorrow when it meets the Czech Republic at 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) at Rosvalla Arena.

NOTES: Team USA is unbeaten in international competition in 2008-09, posting a 4-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record ... Kyle Palmieri's goal was his fifth point (3-2) in international competition this season ... Brandon Maxwell improved to 2-1-0-0 in international competition and has posted a 2.59 goals-against average and .905 save percentage ... The U.S. National Under-18 Team has won the Five Nations Tournament four times (1999, 2005, 2007, 2008) ... The 2009 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament is the final international event for Team USA prior to the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship which runs from April 9-19 in Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn.

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