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U.S. Nat'l Under-18 Team Falls to Air Force, 4-3

October 13, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release

USAFA, Colo. - Despite third-period goals from Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.), the U.S. National Under-18 Team dropped a 4-3 decision to the U.S. Air Force Academy here tonight at the Cadet Ice Arena.

"After we got those two quick goals in the third period, the guys had more life and realized they were in it," said John Hynes, head coach of Team USA. "The difference was that we needed to be more consistent as a group to give ourselves the best chance."

Air Force got on the board first as Mike Phillipich notched a power-play goal at 15:24 in the first period when his wrist shot beat goaltender Nick Maricic (Alta Loma, Calif.) for a 1-0 lead. Just 13 seconds later, the Falcons took a 2-0 advantage after Brett Nylander beat Maricic with a wrist shot from between the face-off circles. Team USA cut its deficit in half when Jimmy Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.) deflected Vinny Saponari's (Powder Springs, Ga.) pass by netminder Andrew Volkening.

Blake Page extended Air Force's lead, 3-1, after redirecting a pass into the bottom left corner of the U.S. net at 7:34 of the second stanza. With 1:13 remaining in the period, Greg Flynn's slap shot from the right point beat Maricic low to give the Falcons a 4-1 advantage.

In the final frame with Team USA on the power play, Gaul tapped a rebound past Volkening at 3:51 to cut the deficit to two goals. Just 45 seconds later, Kristo poked home a rebound of his own after lunging for the puck from between the face-off circles to bring Team USA within one. Despite a last-ditch effort by Team USA in the closing seconds, it was unable to find the equalizer, giving Air Force the 4-3 victory.

Maricic made 17 saves in the losing effort.

After a week off, the U.S. National Under-18 Team will travel to take on the University of Minnesota on Friday (Oct. 26) and St. Cloud State (Minn.) University on Saturday (Oct. 27) with both games scheduled for 7:07 p.m. CT.

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