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NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Drops Mahoning Valley, 6-4, in Game 2

April 17, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Jacob Fallon (Southlake, Texas) tallied three points and Austin Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) scored twice as the U.S. National Under-17 Team defeated the Mahoning Valley Phantoms 6-4 here tonight in Game 2 of a Robertson Cup Playoffs second-round match-up. Team USA tied the series, 1-1, with a win tonight.

Team USA started the scoring at 11:06 of the first period when Emerson Etem (Long Beach, Calif.) attacked from the right side and passed the puck from behind the net to Frankie Simonelli (Bensenville, Ill.), who wristed a shot into the left side of the goal. Mahoning Valley responded just 13 seconds later when Carl Nielsen notched a goal from between the circles by beating Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.) five-hole.

The Phantoms took a 2-1 lead at 1:17 of the second frame when Johnny Meo took a pass from Alex Lippincott on the left side in front of the crease and chipped the puck into the net for a power-play goal. The U.S. tied the score at 5:40 as Czarnik grabbed a rebound off an Etem shot and beat Tibbett into the upper right corner. Mahoning Valley regained the lead at 6:22 as Josh Bussell grabbed a loose puck during a scramble and fired a wrist shot past Maxwell. At 10:09, during a power play, Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md.) made it 3-3 when he fired a slapshot from the point that sailed over the shoulder of Jordan Tibbett into the back of the net.

Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn.) gave the U.S. a 4-3 lead at 3:03 of the third stanza with a slapshot from the blue line. Fallon stretched the lead to two at 5:39 after he gathered his own rebound and slid the puck past Tibbett into the lower right corner. At 15:19, Erik Higby narrowed the gap to one during a five-on-three power play when he knocked in a loose rebound in front of the goal past Maxwell. Czarnik added an empty net goal at 18:28 to cap the scoring.

Maxwell turned away 33 shots to earn the victory.

Game 3 of the series is next Thursday in Youngstown, Ohio. The puck is set to drop at 7:15 p.m. ET at the Chevy Centre.

NOTES: With his two assists, Emerson Etem maintained his hold on the team lead in playoff points with seven (3-4) ... Jacob Fallon is now second on the team in points with six (2-4) ... Etem, Justin Faulk, Austin Czarnik, and Michael Mersch are all tied for the team lead with three goals.

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