NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Skates Past Alpena 6-3 In Halloween Contest

Published on October 31, 2006 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The U.S. National Under-18 Team defeated the Alpena IceDiggers of the North American Hockey League tonight by a score of 6-3 at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. Team USA forward Jimmy Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.) notched three assists on the night while goaltender Josh Unice (Toledo, Ohio) was solid in net for the National Team.

Team USA forward James vanRiemsdyk (Middleton, N.J.) continued his recent hot streak, notching his ninth goal in the past four games to give the National Team a 1-0 lead at the 7:12 mark of the opening frame. USA forward Mike Hoeffel (North Oaks, Minn.) increased the lead after he collected a perfect setup pass from linemate John Albert (Concord, Ohio) at the left faceoff circle and blasted a shot past the IceDiggers's goaltender Shawn Hunwick. Alpena pulled within one tally when a shot from the point deflected past Unice. Team USA responded with a goal from Matt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) on a picture perfect feed from defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.), at 17:10 of the period.

The teams exchanged quick strike goals to open the second stanza with Alpena striking first with a powerplay tally at the 3:05 mark. Defenseman Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.) provided the answer for National Team with a goal of his own 24 seconds later to again give the Under-18 Team a two goal advantage at 4-2. Colin Wilson (Greenwich, Conn.) buried a rebound from a vanRiemsdyk attempt to close out second period scoring.

Alpena closed the gap with a 5-on-3 power-play goal with just over 4 minutes remaining in the contest, but the rally fell short as Team USA won by a score of 6-3 thanks to a late empty net goal from Albert. Unice stopped 19 of 22 shots he faced on the evening to earn his third victory of the season.

"We had good focus tonight. We continued to play hard from top to bottom and we were able to capitalize on our opportunities and that is what got it done tonight," said U.S. National Under-18 Head Coach Ron Rolston (Fenton, Mich.). "Hopefully we can continue this momentum as we move onto the international stage next week."

The U.S. National Under-18 Team will travel to Lulea, Sweden, for its first international competition of the 2006-07 season. Team USA will compete against Finland, Sweden and Switzerland at the Four Nations Tournament during the week-long event from November 5-12.

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North American Hockey League Stories from October 31, 2006


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