NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Rallies Past Alpena, 5-3

Published on April 3, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Kevin Clare (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored the go-ahead goal at 13:54 of the third period and Emerson Etem (Long Beach, Calif.) tallied two goals as the U.S. National Under-17 Team defeated the Alpena IceDiggers, 5-3, here tonight. The win gave the U.S. a 1-0 advantage in the first round of the Robertson Cup Playoffs.

After a scoreless first period, Alpena took a 1-0 lead at 1:44 of the second stanza during a five-on-three power play as Rich Manley tipped in a shot past Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.). The IceDiggers made it 2-0 just 33 seconds later when J.C. Gulch converted on a one-timer from the left side for another five-on-three goal. The U.S. responded at 3:44 as Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn.) sent a head-man pass to Etem who broke into the Alpena zone during a penalty kill and chipped a shot past goaltender Nick Graves. Team USA knotted the score, 2-2, at 10:07 during a U.S. power play when Frankie Simonelli (Bensenville, Ill.) fired a slap shot from the right side that bounced off the boards behind the net to an open Etem, who was waiting at the left side of the goal and knocked the puck in. Alpena responded to take a 3-2 lead at 15:09 when Jim McCusker received a crossing pass from Jon Puskar on a two-on-one break and beat Maxwell into the upper right corner.

The U.S. tied the game at 4:36 of the third frame when Michael Mersch (Park Ridge, Ill.) one-timed a shot from the top of the left circle past Graves's blocker. Clare gave Team USA its first lead of the game at 13:54 when he stole a pass at center ice, brought the puck into the Alpena zone on the left wing, and rocketed a slap shot into the upper right corner for the goal. Simonelli added an empty-net marker at 19:33 to ice the 5-3 victory.

Maxwell turned away 31 shots to earn the win.

The two teams meet again tomorrow evening at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube for Game 2 at 5 p.m. ET.

NOTES: The U.S. out shot Alpena 38-34 ... Team USA held a 9-0-1 record over the IceDiggers during the regular season ... The U17 Team holds the No. 1 seed in the North Division, while Alpena is No. 4 ... Emerson Etem extended his team-leading goal total to 25, three of which came shorthanded, also a team high ... Frankie Simonelli leads the Team USA defensive corps with 29 points (8-21).

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North American Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2009


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