NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Nat'l Under-17 Team Settles for Split at Traverse City

Published on December 15, 2007 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Kenny Ryan (Franklin Village, Mich.) and Beau Schmitz (Howell, Mich.) each netted goals, but the U.S. National Under-17 Team fell, 3-2, to the Traverse City North Stars in North American Hockey League action Saturday night at Center Ice Arena.

"We had a a bit of disappointing effort tonight," said Ron Rolston, head coach of the U.S. National Under-17 Team. "Our intensity level wasn't there for most of the game, and we were lucky to still have a chance to tie things up late. Now we have to regroup, and get back on track next week."

Team USA jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 4:17 into the game, on the power play, when Ryan contributed his fifth goal of the season off assists from Drew Shore (Denver, Colo.) and Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.).

Harrison Niemann put the North Stars ahead with an even-strength goal at the 9:34 mark of the opening period, and a power-play marker at 5:07 of the second stanza.

Neither team scored again until the 12:46 mark of the final frame, as Schmitz netted his third goal of the 2007-08 campaign for Team USA, thanks to a helper from Ryan.

The lead was short-lived for Team USA, however, because Marc Thompson secured the game-winning goal just 52 seconds later for Traverse City.

Team USA finished the third period with a 12-9 shot advantage, but it wasn't enough to tie the game up before the end of regulation.

Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.) finished with 29 saves for Team USA, and dropped to 6-7-0 on the year. Chris Paliafito stopped 20 shots for the North Stars.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team (13-14-1) travels to Boardman, Ohio, for two games against the Mahoning Valley Phantoms next Friday (Dec. 21) and Saturday (Dec. 22) at the Boardman Ice Zone. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2007


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