Quarterfinal game against Slovakia going on right now. Winner plays Canada tomorrow in the semis
LIVE STATS
NTDP Overseas
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
USA Hockey wrote:RAUMA, Finland -- Colin Wilson (Grennwich, Conn.) and Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) tallied two goals apiece as the U.S. National Under-18 Team topped Slovakia by a 7-2 score tonight at the Tampere Hakameta in the playoff round at the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship.
With the victory, Team USA advances to the semifinal round where it will face Canada tomorrow at 11:30 am EDT.
“We had our best effort of the tournament tonight,” said Ron Rolston, head coach of Team USA. “To be successful in the remainder of the event we need to continue to improve our overall game. We have a tough road in front of us, but playing our game will give us the chance to win.”
Patrick White (Grand Rapids, Minn.) opened the scoring for Team USA 5:25 into the contest when he took a Jim O’Brien (Maplewood, Minn.) feed and beat Slovakian netminder Zdenko Kotvan above his left shoulder. Cole gave the U.S. a 2-0 advantage 1:42 later when he buried the rebound of a Wilson blast. Slovakia got on the scoreboard with :52 remaining in the period when Adam Bezak knocked a loose puck past U.S. netminder Josh Unice (Toledo, Ohio) to make it a 2-1 game.
Jordan Schroeder (Lakeville, Minn.) ignited Team USA’s three-goal second period with a power-play tally 9:25 into the frame. Schroeder gathered in a loose puck to the right of the Slovak net and flipped it past Kotvan to give the United States a 3-1 advantage. O’Brien notched his third goal of the tournament 12 seconds later off a feed from White to make it a 4-1 contest. Following O’Brien’s goal, Slovakia replaced Kotvan with netminder Jaroslav Janus.
Bezak tallied his second goal of the night for Slovakia at the 14:06 mark of the middle frame when his snap shot beat Unice over the right shoulder to cut the U.S. lead to 4-2. Wilson closed out the second period scoring with a power-play tally at 16:47 to give Team USA a three-goal cushion.
Wilson’s second power-play goal of the game made it a 6-2 contest at the 3:03 mark of the final period. Cole then capped off the scoring when he added his second goal of the night at 9:48. After he circled with the puck in the neutral zone, Cole skated in untouched and beat Janus glove side with a snap shot to account for the 7-2 final score.
Unice stopped 19-of-21 shots in goal for Team USA to earn his third victory of the tournament. Team USA went 3-for-7 on the power play, while Slovakia was scoreless in two attempts with the man advantage.
NOTES: Wilson earned Best Player of the Game Honors for Team USA … Team USA is now 4-2-0 versus Slovakia at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship … Unice is leading the tournament with a .944 save percentage … Cole (4-1) and Cade Fairchild (Duluth, Minn.) (1-4) are tied for the tournament lead in points by defensemen with five apiece … The winner of tomorrow night’s United States/Canada match-up will move on to face the victor of tomorrow’s Russia/Sweden contest. The gold medal game is set for Sunday (April 22) at 11 a.m. EDT.
7
2 (Final)First Period
USA: White (O'Brien, Saponari) 5:25
USA: Cole (Wilson, Schroeder) 7:07
SVK: Bezak (Kytnar, Baca) 19:08
Penalties – USA, O’Brien (holding), 9:05; USA, White (boarding), 19:25
Second Period
USA: Schroeder (Fairchild,Wilson) pp, 9:25
USA: O'Brien (White) 9:47
SVK: Bezak (un.) 14:06
USA:Wilson (Fairchild, vanRiemsdyk) pp, 16:47
Penalties – SVK, Hruska (boarding), 9:07; SVK, Novajovsky (hooking), 16:22; SVK, Hruska (interference), 18:27
Third Period
USA:Wilson (vanRiemsdyk, Fairchild) pp, 3:03
USA: Cole (Ruth, White) 9:46
Penalties – SVK, Baca (hitting to the head), 1:12; SVK, Baca (misconduct), 1:12; SVK, Panik (hooking), 7:51; SVK, Kytner (hooking), 9:34; SVK, Baca (high sticking), 18:00
Shots on Goal
USA: 14-18-19-51
SVK: 12-8-1-21
Goalies
USA: Unice, SLV: Kotvan, Janus
Power Play: USA 3-7; SVK 0-2
Penalties: USA 2-4; SVK 8-24
Attendance: 1,204
GAME STATS
Bigcat99 wrote:looks as though we just beat the Canadians!
USA Hockey wrote:For the second time in five days, the 2007 U.S. National Under-18 Team and Canada needed overtime and a shootout to determine a winner. Team USA fell on April 15, but topped Canada today in Finland to advance to the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. James vanRiemsdyk was credited with the shootout game-winner for Team USA, which will face Russia Sunday at 11:30 a.m. EDT.
U.S. National Under-18 Team Tops Canada in Shootout,
Will Face Russia in Gold-Medal Game
vanRiemsdyk Scores and Unice Stops All Three Canadians in Shootout
TAMPERE, Finland - James vanRiemsdyk (Middletwon, N.J.) scored his second goal of the night and Josh Unice (Toledo, Ohio) stopped all three of Canada's shootout attempts to lead the U.S. National Under-18 Team past Canada, 4-3, at the Tampere Hakameta in the semifinal round at the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship. Team USA will face Russia in the gold-medal game on Sunday (April 22) at 11 a.m. EDT.
"Tonight was a great hockey game between two very evenly matched teams," said Ron Rolston, head coach of Team USA. "Canada is a good hockey club and tonight was a battle. I am very proud of the way our guys fought back in the third period. We'll look to carry this momentum into Sunday when we face a skilled Russian squad."
Vinny Saponari (Powder Springs, Ga.) opened the scoring with 15 seconds remaining in the first period when Jim O'Brien (Maplewood, Minn.) carried the puck deep into the Canadian zone and found his linemate trailing the play. Saponari took the pass and fired the puck over Canadian netminder Trevor Cann's shoulder to give Team USA a 1-0 lead.
Canada struck back in the second period with a pair of goals from Zac Boychuk. The first tally came 52 seconds into the frame when he snuck a shot under Unice's right arm. Boychuk then gave Canada a 2-1 lead when he scored off a faceoff play at 4:35.
Team USA replied at the 9:55 mark when Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.) blasted a slap shot from the point on the power play that found its way through traffic to knot the game at 2-2. Kyle Turris gave the Canadians a 3-2 advantage 1:19 later when he walked into the U.S. zone and beat Unice glove side.
In the final period, vanRiemsdyk evened the game at 3-3 on a power-play goal at the 1:36 mark. After a Cade Fairchild (Duluth, Minn.) shot from the point was blocked by a Canadian defenseman, vanRiemsdyk picked up the rebound and buried it past Cann to close out the third-period scoring.
In the 10-minute extra session, the United States carried the play, outshooting Canada by a 5-2 margin. vanRiemsdyk and Matt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) had the best chances for Team USA, but were unable to end the game. Unice calmly handled the two Canadian chances to keep the game knotted at 3-3.
In the three-man shootout, Unice forced Turris to shoot wide on the first Canadian attempt. After Ryan Hayes (Syracuse, N.Y.) missed the net on Team USA's first attempt, Unice came up big again as he sprawled across the ice to make a save on Steve Stamkos. With the shootout still scoreless, vanRiemsdyk beat Cann on a shot that went between the goalkeeper's legs to give the United States a 1-0 advantage. On Canada's final attempt, Unice stayed with Boychuk and made the save to win the game for Team USA.
NOTES: Shattenkirk earned Best Player of the Game Honors for Team USA … With the win, the United States advances to its fourth consecutive gold-medal game at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship … Russia defeated Sweden this afternoon, 5-4, on a goal with one second left in the contest … Team USA lost to Russia, 5-3, in its opening game of the tournament.
4
3 (final, shootout)First Period
USA: Saponari (Shattenkirk, O'Brien) 19:45
Penalties - USA, Cross (holding), 5:35; CAN, Arniel (delay of game), 10:20; CAN, Gillies (charging), 16:12; USA, Cole (interference), 19:56
Second Period
CAN: Boychuk (Doughty) pp, 0:52
CAN: Boychuk (Stamkos) 4:35
USA: Shattenkirk (Schroeder, vanRiemsdyk) pp, 9:55
CAN: Turris (Esposito) 11:14
Penalties - CAN, Schenn (tripping), 8:31; CAN, Negrin (hooking), 13:05
Third Period
USA: vanRiemsdyk (Fairchild, Schroeder) pp, 1:36
Penalties - USA, J. Hayes (hooking), 11:16
Overtime
No scoring
Shots on Goal
USA: 14-19-6-5-44
CAN: 6-10-13-2-31
Goalies
USA: Unice, CAN: Cann
Power Play: USA 2-5; CAN 1-3
Penalties: USA 3-6; CAN 5-10
Attendance: 1,505
GAME STATS
USA loses the Gold Medal game to Russia
USA Hockey wrote:TAMPERE, Finland -- The U.S. National Under-18 Team's bid for three consecutive gold medals at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship fell short at the Tampere Hakametsa tonight when it when it dropped a 6-5 decision to Russia in the gold medal game at the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championship.
"I am extremely proud of the way our guys competed in this tournament," said Ron Rolston, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "We battled hard throughout the event and gave ourselves a chance to win a gold medal, but we ran in to a very good Russian team in the gold-medal game. There are many very good teams in this tournament and I am pleased with the way that our guys represented our country."
Team USA opened the scoring 1:31 into the contest when C.J. Severyn (Beaver, Pa.) beat Russian netminder Alexander Pechurskiy with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle. Vinny Saponari (Powder Springs, Ga.) then gave the United States a 2-0 lead at the 6:13 mark with a shorthanded goal. Matt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) found Saponari in the neutral zone, who skated in all alone and beat Pechurskiy with a wrist shot over his catching glove.
Russia replied with two goals in the next 5:20 to even the game. Andrey Lokitonov batted in a loose puck during a scramble in front of netminder Josh Unice (Toledo, Ohio) at 7:44, followed by a Sergey Korostin snap shot from the right circle that deflected off the left goalpost and into the net at 11:33 to knot the game at 2-2. Following its first goal, Russia elected to replace Pechurskiy with netminder Vadim Zhelobnyuk.
Team USA regained the lead at the 18:27 mark of the opening period when Jordan Schroeder (Lakeville, Minn.) found linemate Colin Wilson (Greenwich, Conn.), who proceeded to beat Zhelobnyuk and give the United States a 3-2 advantage at the end of the first period.
Russia evened the game 3:59 into the second frame when Dmitry Kugryshev beat Unice from deep in the United States end to make it a 3-3 contest. Eight minutes into the period, Team USA thought it had scored on a scramble in front of the Russian net, but play continued. Seconds later, Russia gained its first lead of the game when Korostin made a pass from behind Team USA's net to Nikita Klyukin, who buried the feed to give Russia a 4-3 advantage.
James vanRiemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) closed out the second-period scoring and made it a 4-4 game at the 10:37 mark when he batted a puck out of the air from the left side of the net.
Alexi Cherepanov scored Russia's fifth goal at the 11:52 mark of the third period. Russia cycled the puck deep in the United States zone before Chereponov skated out from behind the net and put the puck underneath the crossbar to give Russia a 5-4 lead. Egor Averin made it a 6-4 contest at 17:45 when he put a shot between Unice's pads.
Team USA pulled Unice with 1:11 remaining and applied heavy pressure before Wilson notched his second goal of the contest with six seconds remaining to make it a one-goal game. However, Russia held on during the closing seconds to earn the victory.
The U.S. National Under-18 Team swept the Directorate Awards, as vanRiemsdyk was named the Best Forward of the tournament, Shattenkirk earned Best Defenseman honors and Unice took home Best Goaltender laurels. The trio was also named to the six-player All-Tournament Team.
NOTES: Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Shattenkirk and Unice were named Team USA's three best players of the tournament … Wilson and vanRiemsdyk tied for the tournament lead in points with 12 (5-7) apiece … The United States has played in four consecutive gold-medal games at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship and has captured two gold medals (2005, 2006) and two silver medals (2004, 2007) in that span … The United States and Russia have claimed the last four IIHF World Under-18 Championships.
5
6 (Final)First Period
USA: Severyn (Vargas) 1:31
USA: Saponari (Rust) sh, 6:13
RUS: Loktionov (Kugryshev, Voinov) 7:44
RUS: Korostin (Kagarlitskiy) 11:33
USA: Wilson (vanRiemsdyk, Schroeder) 18:27
Penalties - USA, O'Brien (hooking), 5: 43; USA, Vaive (tripping), 8:43
Second Period
RUS: Kugryshev (Filatov) 3:59
RUS: Klyuin (Andronov, Korostin) 8:00
USA: vanRiemsdyk (Wilson, Schroeder) 10:37
Penalties - RUS, Seleznev (tripping), 0:37; RUS, Filatov (hooking), 11:21
Third Period
RUS: Cherepanov (Karamnov, Petrov) 11:52
RUS: Averin (Kulikov) 17:45
USA: Wilson (Fairchild, vanRiemsdyk) 19:54
Penalties - RUS, Tokranov (kneeing), 2:47
Shots on Goal
USA: 7-13-16-36
RUS: 7-9-8-24
Goalies
USA: Unice, RUS: Pechurskiy, Zhelobnyuk
Power Play: RUS 0-2; USA 0-3
Penalties: RUS 3-6; USA 2-4
Attendance: 2,279
GAME STATS
Directorate Award Winners
Best Goaltender: Josh Unice (USA)
Best Defenseman: Kevin Shattenkirk (USA)
Best Forward: James vanRiemsdyk (USA)
Media All-Star Team
Goaltender: Josh Unice (USA)
Defensemen: Viktor Hedman (SWE), Kevin Shattenkirk (USA)
Forwards: Alexey Cherapanov (RUS), Steven Stamkos (CAN), James vanRiemsdyk (USA)
USA TOURNAMENT PLAYER STATS