BRECLAV, Czech Republic - Collin Olson (Apple Valley, Minn.) made 17 saves to earn his second straight shutout and Seth Jones (Plano, Texas) recorded three points (1-2), as the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team defeated the Czech Republic, 5-0, here this afternoon at Alcaplast Arena in its second game at the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Under-18 Championship. With the win, Team USA's overall record improved to 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L).

"Overall, it was a good, strong effort by the team," said Danton Cole, head coach of the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team. "We played a pretty clean game defensively, limiting their chances."

Team USA opened the scoring at 13:16 of the first period when Daniel O’Regan (Needham, Mass.) pounced on a loose puck to create a two-on-one break. O’Regan skated to the left of the netminder and found a streaking Nicolas Kerdiles (Irvine, Calif.) on the opposite side with a wide open net. Kerdiles potted the goal to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Jacob Trouba (Rochester, Mich.) doubled the lead for Team USA on the power play when he blasted a shot from just inside the blue line. Jones and Kerdiles assisted on the tally. Trouba and Ryan Hartman (West Dundee, Ill.) cycled the puck back and forth on the next power play and found Jones open to the left of the goal. Jones ripped a one-timer into the net to give Team USA a 3-0 lead. Before time expired on the frame, Quentin Shore (Denver, Colo.) put the U.S. up by four goals at 18:31. Riley Barber (Livonia, Mich.) and Anthony Louis (Winfield, Ill.) registered assists on the play.

Team USA took a 5-0 lead at 9:58 of the final frame when Hartman split the Czech defense and beat netminder Marek Langhammer. Jones collected the lone assist on the goal. Olson made nine saves in the stanza to preserve the shutout, while Langhammer and Patrik Polivka combined to stop 32 shots for the Czech Republic in the loss.

The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team continues tournament play on Sunday (April 15) against Denmark at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. EDT), at Kajot Arena.

NOTES: Seth Jones was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Team USA outshot the Czech Republic, 37-17 ... The U.S. went 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Czech Republic went 0-for-1 ... The U.S. enters the tournament having captured a record eight consecutive medals, including back-to-back gold medals in 2005-06, three straight gold medals from 2009-11, two silver medals (2004, 2007) and one bronze medal (2008). Team USA’s six gold medals are the most of any country in IIHF Men's World Under-18 Championship history (event began in 1999). Team USA earned its first gold medal in 2002 … The U.S. is in Group A with Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Finland. Group B consists of Germany, Latvia, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland ... The U.S. Mens National Under-17 and Under-18 Teams train with The Hockey IntelliGym, a revolutionary software program that trains hockey sense. To learn more, visit USAHockeyIntelliGym.com.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period
USA 1-3-1--5
CZE 0-0-0--0

First Period – Scoring: 1, USA, Kerdiles (O'Regan), 13:16. Penalties: CZE, Houfek (interference), 18:13.

Second Period – Scoring: 2, USA, Trouba (Jones, Kerdiles), 9:18, (pp); 3, USA, Jones (Hartman, Trouba), 12:33, (pp); 4, USA, Shore (Barber, Louis), 18:31. Penalties: CZE, Volek (kneeing), 8:02; CZE, Behal (holding), 11:34; USA, Louis (hooking), 13:56; CZE, Slovacek (checking-from-behind), 19:47; CZE, Slovacek (game-misconduct), 19:47.

Third Period – Scoring: 5, USA, Hartman (Jones), 9:58. Penalties: None

Shots by Period
USA 15-14-8--37
CZE 2-6-9--17

Goaltenders (Shots/Saves)
USA, Olson, 60:00, 17/17
CZE, Langhammer, 53:09, 36/31
CZE, Polivka, 6:51, 1/1

Power Play
USA 2-4; CZE 0-1

Penalties
USA 1-2; CZE 5-31