USHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Tops Cedar Rapids, 8-1

Published on December 18, 2009 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) notched a pair of goals and two assists as the U.S. National Under-18 Team rolled past the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, 8-1, here tonight.

Michael Vilardo (Geneva, Ill.) kicked off the four-goal first period for Team USA when he picked up the puck in the left faceoff circle, wheeled behind the net to the right side and slid a shot past netminder Nick Grosenick 3:39 into the game. With the U.S. on the penalty kill, Nieto broke in 2-on-1 and slid the puck to Bryan Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) who roofed a shot over Grosenick's glove at 10:14. Nick Shore (Denver, Colo.) dropped a pass to Luke Moffatt (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) who broke in uncontested and put the puck in the upper-right corner of the cage just 1:34 later to make it 3-0. Nieto capped the goal flurry after he took a pass from Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md.), streaked down the left wing with, wheeled around the defenseman, cut to the middle and slipped the puck under Grosenick with just 1:03 to play in the opening stanza.

Shore made it 5-0 after he snapped a shot over the outstretched glove of new netminder Cody Campbell just 2:28 into the second period for a 5-on-3 power-play goal. Just 1:50 later Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.) hit Rust with a pass on the left side of the crease and he put it into the upper-right corner of the net. Moffatt gave Team USA a seven-goal cushion at 13:35 when he snapped the puck through Campbell's legs from the left side. Cedar Rapids put its lone goal on the board at 16:33 after Zach Lehrke knocked a rebound past Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) who made two stellar saves on Derek DeBlois prior to the goal. Nieto wowed the crowd with a dazzling between-the-legs deke around a Cedar Rapids defenseman and put a backhanded shot past the blocker of Campbell with 2:02 remaining in the period to make it 8-1.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the final frame, with Iles stopping all 13 shots he faced in the closing 20 minutes. He made 30 saves on the night to earn the victory.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team is back in action Saturday against the Youngstown Phantoms. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. EST at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from December 18, 2009


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