NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Nat'l Under-17 Team Falls to NAHL's Best, 5-3

Published on February 20, 2007 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms snapped the U.S. National Under-17 Team's six-game unbeaten streak tonight when they topped Team USA, 5-3, in North American Hockey League action at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

Off the opening draw U.S. forward Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh, Pa.) rang a snapshot off the crossbar, then the Phantoms carried the puck down the ice and Chris Fairbanks beat U.S. netminder Nick Maricic (Alta Loma, Calif) to give Mahoning Valley the quick 1-0 lead 37 seconds into the game. Team USA replied 7:09 into the opening frame when Vinny Saponari (Powder Springs, Ga.) floated a backhand pass to Kevin McCarey (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) who fired at Phantoms netminder Ryan Zapolski. David Wohlberg (South Lyon, Mich.) swooped in a backhanded the rebound over Zapolski's shoulder to tie the game at 1-1.

Fairbanks notched his second tally of the night for the Phantoms 12:20 into the opening frame followed by a Dustin Cloutier tally 2:28 later to give Mahoning Valley the 3-1 advantage. U.S. forward Ryan Schnell (Cary, Ill.) cut the Phantoms lead to one with 2:29 left in the period when he banked a shot off the side of Zapolski from the right boards.

The Phantoms struck again, 2:25 into the second stanza when Alden Hirshfeld buried a Maricic rebound to give Mahoning Valley the 4-2 lead. Mahoning Valley added a power-play tally with 9:29 remaining in the second period to gain the 5-2 advantage.

In the final frame U.S. defenseman Sam Lofquist (Faribault, Minn.) notched his 10th goal of the season on the power-play to make it a 5-3 contest.

"Mahoning Valley showed why they are the top team tonight," said U.S. Head Coach John Hynes (Warwick, R.I.). "We need to focus now on a tough weekend series ahead of us and continue to work hard this week in preparation."

The U.S. National Under-17 Team will travel to Traverse City, Mich., for a three game set with the NAHL's North Stars this weekend. Friday and Saturday's (Feb. 23-24) games are set for 7 p.m. EST and Sunday is scheduled as a 1 p.m. EST tilt.

NOTES: The U.S. National Under-17 Team's last defeat came on January 28, 2007, at the Alpena IceDiggers.

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North American Hockey League Stories from February 20, 2007


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