NAHL U.S. National Team

USA topples top-seeded Soo Indians

Published on April 15, 2004 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


Ann Arbor, Mich. – Ryan Stoa (Bloomington, Minn.) seemingly could not miss tonight (Friday, April 9) as he powered his way to a four-goal evening to lead the U.S. U-17 Team to a 7-1 victory over the No. 1-seeded Soo Indians at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. The win clinched the NAHL North Division semifinal series for Team USA, three games to one. Four other USA icers had multi-point nights while goalie Billy Blase (Santa Monica, Calif.) was rock solid in net making 21 stops on 22 shots.

The game started out slowly for the U-17's as they did not tally a goal until 11:48 of the first period. Scott Birnstill (Commack, N.Y.) fired a one-timer wide to the right of the net, but the puck bounced sharply off the boards allowing Stoa to sneak in from the right and flip the puck high into the net for a 1-0 lead. That would be the only scoring of the opening frame.

At the 5:59-mark of the second stanza, Stoa notched his second goal of the game. While on the power play, Mark Mitera (Livonia, Mich.) threw the puck at the net from atop the left circle and it was deflected by a mass of players in the slot. No one, including goalie Adam Dekker, could locate the puck until Stoa found it sitting right on his stick in the crease for an easy tap in. Nearly six minutes later, Peter Mueller (Bloomington, Minn.) and Seth Seidman (Milton, Mass.) hooked up on a two-on-one play. Both on the right side, Seidman pulled a defender away from the net and then centered the puck for Mueller, who snapped a shot through the goalie's five-hole. The tally chased Dekker from the Soo net in favor of Derek MacIntyre. At 15:52, Stoa completed his hat trick by hammering away at a loose puck at the left edge of the crease until he forced it over the goal line.

USA continued its offensive onslaught early in the third period with Stoa adding his fourth marker of the game at 3:46. Coasting in on a breakaway, Stoa wristed a shot cleanly by MacIntyre's blocker to make it 5-0. Birnstill batted in another goal at 4:32 and Nick Foligno (Hummelstown, Pa.) wrapped up the U-17 scoring at 6:20 by beating the re-inserted Dekker between his pads. The Indians spoiled Blase's shutout bid with 2:53 remaining when Jim Pentecost finally solved the USA netminder.

The U.S. U-17 Team advances to the NAHL North Division Finals to play the winner of the Springfield Jr. Blues-Cleveland Barons series, which is currently tied at two games apiece. That series will be decided on Sunday (April 11). Regardless of that series outcome, Team USA will be the lower seed and begin the series on the road next weekend.

QUOTES Head Coach David Quinn On the game ..."We played as complete as a game as we have all year. We played with pride, pace, passion and intelligence. That's what we talk about. We never wavered in our play and we played smart and hard. Our will matched our skill tonight."

On where this game ranks compared to others this season ... "This is a highlight. This is up there with our win vs. Russia in Russia. We beat the Indians three games to one after they only lost six games all season. The boys are very excited but they don't think this season is finished yet."

On Ryan Stoa's performance ... "He's been a stud in the playoffs. He has been more physical and he's elevated his game at on all levels. He has a higher pace right now and he scores because of his skill."

On what generated all of the offense ... "We did a great job on defense. All three of our third period goals were a result of good defensive plays. We back checked well and picked up their third and fourth guys coming into our zone. We're ready to keep going and see how far we can take it."

Ryan Stoa On the game and series win ... "This is huge for the program. I'm not sure if anything like this has happened before. We just beat the best team in the league. We were good in our defensive zone and our offense came from that."

On how the team has been playing lately ... "We're playing our best. We're peaking at the right time. We can't be too confident though, because Springfield and Cleveland are both good teams."

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North American Hockey League Stories from April 15, 2004


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