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U.S. National Under-18 Team Tops Belarus, 5-2

April 14, 2008 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


KAZAN, Russia - The U.S. National Under-18 Team scored two goals in each of the first two periods, and tallied an empty-net goal late in the third stanza to secure a 5-2 victory over Belarus here today in both team's second game of the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Hockey Championship.

"It was good to keep improving our record in the tournament," said John Hynes, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "Our players had great focus in the past 48 hours and they are looking forward to a well-deserved day off to rest, recuperate and prepare for our next match against Sweden."

Belarus notched the first goal of the afternoon at the 3:31 mark of the opening period when Alexander Fomin banged in a shot from right in front of the Team USA net.

The United States knotted the score at 1-1 at 14:47 of the first frame as David Wohlberg (South Lyon, Mich.) netted his first goal of the tournament, thanks to assists from Aaron Ness (Roseau, Minn.) and Vinny Saponari (Powder Springs, Ga.). Ness wristed a pass towards the low slot from the right point, which Saponari corralled and sent on net. Wohlberg was then able slip the rebound through the legs of Belarus goaltender Alexander Borodulia.

Philip McRae (Chesterfield, Mo.) contributed his third marker of the tournament less than four minutes later, on the power play, to give Team USA its first lead of the game. Saponari gained the lone assist on the goal after he directed a pass through the low slot that McRae received from the bottom of the right circle. McRae beat Borodulia up high on the glove with a shot that ended up inside the right post.

Team USA built a two-goal cushion at the 13:17 mark of the middle stanza, as a result of Jordan Schroeder's (Prior Lake, Minn.) even-strength tally. Ryan Grimshaw (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up a helper after his initial shot bounced off Borodulia back onto the stick of Schroeder, who wristed a shot from the slot into the net. Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) extended the Americans' advantage to three goals when he recorded a power-play marker off assists from David Warsofsky (Marshfield, Mass.) and Schroeder. While positioned near the faceoff dot in the left circle, Morin took Warsofsky's one-timer feed from the point and whistled it by Borodulia on the glove side.

Sergei Sheleg gave Belarus its second goal of the day at the six-minute mark of the third period, during a 5-on-3 power play.

With 2:35 remaining in regulation, Belarus pulled Borodulia from his net to gain the extra attacker. The move proved fatal, however, as Justin Florek (Marquette, Mich.) added an empty-net goal at 18:09 of the session, courtesy of an assist from McRae.

Team USA netminder Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.) finished with 19 saves in the win, while Borodulia stopped 40 shots for Belarus.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team is off tomorrow and resumes preliminary round competition Wednesday (April 16) with a game vs. Sweden at Kazan Arena. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time (11 a.m. EDT.

Notes: Philip McRae leads all players at the 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship with five points (3-2) ... Jeremy Morin is tied for second with four points (3-1) in the tournament ... All U.S. games in the 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship will be audiocast live at USAHockey.com ... The 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship features the best athletes under the age of 18 with participating teams including the United States, Belarus, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland ... Team USA won the silver medal at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship and won the gold medal at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in both 2005 and 2006 to mark the first time in U.S. hockey history that a team has earned back-to-back gold medals at an IIHF event.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

BLR 1 0 1 2 USA 2 2 1 5

First Period - Scoring: 1, BLR, Roman (Revenko, Drozd), 3:31; 1, USA, Wohlberg (Ness, Saponari), 14:47; 2, USA, McRae (Saponari), 18:15 (pp). Penalties: USA, Morin (interference), 1:25; BLR, Revenko (hooking), 8:27; USA, Wohlberg (holding the stick), 11:07; BLR, Graborenko (tripping), 18:07; BLR, Gribko (hooking), 18:30.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, USA, Schroeder (Grimshaw), 13:17; 4, USA, Morin (Warsofsky, Schroeder), 18:03 (pp). Penalties: USA, Czarnik (slashing), 2:20; BLR, Bogoleisha (holding), 4:44; USA, Bourque (kneeing), 9:03; BLR, Sheleg (interfering with the net), 17:21; BLR, Gotovets (interference), 19:30.

Third Period - Scoring: 2, BLR, Sheleg (Gotovets, Fomin), 6:00; 5, USA, Florek (McRae), 18:09 (en). Penalties: BLR, Gotovets (high sticking), 1:55; USA, Grimshaw (tripping), 4:59; USA, Czarnik (delaying the game), 5:25; USA, Grimshaw (interference), 5:36.

Shots by Period

1

2

3

Total BLR 7 3 11 21 USA 12 15 17 44 Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total BLR, Borodulia, 57:35 12-10 15-13 17-16 44-38 USA, Maxwell, 60:00 7-6 3-3 11-10 21-19

Power Play: BLR 1-7; USA 2-7 Penalties: BLR 7-14; USA 7-14 Officials: Referees - Rafall Kadyrov, Derek Zalaski; Linesmen - Daniel Bechard, Andreas Kowert Attendance: 700

Team USA 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship Schedule April 13-23 - Kazan, Russia Date Opponent Venue Time (Local/EST) April 10 Denmark (Ex.) Kazan Arena W, 5-0 April 13 Switzerland Kazan Arena W, 7-2 April 14 Belarus Kazan Arena W, 5-2 April 16 Sweden Kazan Arena 7 p.m./11 a.m. April 18 Finland Kazan Arena 7 p.m./11 a.m. April 20 Quarterfinals TBA TBA April 21 Semifinals TBA TBA April 23 Bronze Medal Game Tatneft Arena 3 p.m./7 a.m. April 23 Gold Medal Game Tatneft Arena 7 p.m./11 a.m.

Venue Locations: Kazan Arena(Kazan, Russia), Tatneft Arena (Kazan, Russia)

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