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NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Falls to Mahoning Valley, 4-1, in Game 1

April 16, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn.) tallied his second playoff goal, but the U.S. National Under-17 Team fell to the Mahoning Valley Phantoms 4-1 here tonight in its opening game of the Robertson Cup Playoffs second round.

Mahoning Valley took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Alex Lippincott knocked in a rebound past Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.) at 17:04 for a power-play goal.

The Phantoms made it 2-0 just 22 seconds into the second frame when Cullen Lundholm fired a slap shot from the left circle that beat Maxwell just above his blocker. The lead was stretched to three at 3:29 as Josh Bussell took a crossing pass from Johnny Meo and one-timed the puck into the top-left corner of the net. Faulk was able to put Team USA on the board at 11:39 with a power-play goal when he took a pass from Emerson Etem (Long Beach, Calif.) and fired a slap shot from the point that beat Jordan Tibbett into the upper right corner.

Mahoning Valley made it 4-1 at 16:27 of the third stanza when Stefan Salituro notched an empty-net goal to cap the scoring.

Maxwell turned away 26 shots on the night.

The two teams continue their second-round series tomorrow night at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. ET.

NOTES: The U.S. went 5-4-1 against Mahoning Valley in the regular season ... With his assist, Emerson Etem became the team leader in playoff points with five. Justin Faulk is now tied for second on the team with four points ... Team USA out shot the Phantoms 48-30.

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