CRIMMITSCHAU, Germany – Reid Boucher (Grand Ledge, Mich./2-1), Rocco Grimaldi(Rossmoor, Calif./1-2) and J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio/1-2) each recorded three points, as the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team topped Germany, 7-3, here tonight in its final preliminary-round game of the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's U18 Championship. With the win, Team USA remained undefeated with a 4-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record and earned a bye to the semifinal round.

"We were fortunate to jump out early in the game in front of such a large home crowd," said Ron Rolston, head coach of the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team. "The best six teams are now moving on and we are looking forward to the final games of the tournament."

The U.S. opened the scoring just 1:02 into the game, when Miller collected a rebound off an initial shot by Boucher and flipped the puck over German goaltender Philip Lehr. Grimaldi also collected an assist on the play.

The same line of Boucher, Grimaldi and Miller connected again at the 13:46 mark to give Team USA a 2-0 lead. Grimaldi fed the puck to Miller near the right side of the net. Miller then circled the net, drawing the attention of Lehr, and backhanded a pass to the front of the crease, where Boucher was waiting to knock the puck in.

Germany cut the lead in half at 8:26 of the second frame, but the U.S. responded only 50 seconds later. Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) sent a long outlet pass to Miller, who skated through the offensive zone to the left of Lehr and connected with Grimaldi for the score.

The host country drew within one just 44 seconds later, but Team USA's offense erupted with three unanswered goals. Boucher netted his second tally of the game on a quick wrist shot that beat Lehr and Adam Reid (Chino Hills, Calif.) redirected a shot by Barrett Kaib (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) to put the U.S. up, 5-2. Tyler Biggs (Cincinnati, Ohio) then deposited a rebound goal with less than a minute remaining in the middle frame to send Team USA into the second intermission with a four-goal cushion.

Germany converted on a five-on-three power play at 6:28 of the third period, but Blake Pietila (Brighton, Mich.) fired a shot into the top right corner of the net in the final five minutes of regulation to complete Team USA's 7-3 victory.

John Gibson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) made 24 saves in the win for the U.S., while Lehr stopped 36 shots in the loss for Germany.

The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team has a bye to the semifinal round on Saturday (April 23), when it will face the winner of the quarterfinal match-up between Germany and Canada (April 21) at Crimmitschau Arena. The game will be streamed live on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: The U.S. went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Germany was 2-for-5 with the man advantage ... Reid Boucher was named Team USA's Player of the Game. The forward now has five goals in four games, which ranks him tied for second in scoring at the tournament. He has scored three game-winning goals for the U.S. ... Robbie Russo(Westmont, Ill.) now has recorded a point in each of the first four games of the 2011 IIHF World Men's U18 Championship. He is currenlty tied for the lead among tournament defensemen with seven points (1-6) ... Rocco Grimaldi continues to climb the leaderboard in all-time points at the IIHF World Men's U18 Championship for Team USA, with 17 points (4-13) in 11 games to rank third. He also played for the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team at last year's tournament in Belarus ... The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team has appeared in the semifinals in each of the last 10 IIHF World Men's U18 Championships, an unprecedented feat ... Team USA went undefeated in the preliminary round for the first time since 2006, when the U.S. went 4-0-0 in preliminary play en route to a gold medal in Sweden ... The U.S. has captured a record seven consecutive medals at the IIHF World Men's U18 Championship, including back-to-back gold medals in 2005-06 and 2009-10, two silver medals (2004, 2007) and one bronze (2008). Team USA also captured the gold medal in 2002 ... All 22 players on the 2011 U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team come from USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, based in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... Team USA coverage throughout the 2011 IIHF World Men's U18 Championship, including game recaps, photos and videos, can be found on USAHockey.com and Facebook. For live U.S. scoring updates, follow @USAHockeyScores and #U18WMC on Twitter ... All U.S. games will be streamed live on USAHockey.FASTHockey.com... All 22 members of the 2011 U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team train with The Hockey IntelliGym, a revolutionary new software program released on October 1, 2010 that trains hockey sense. To learn more, visit USAHockeyIntelliGym.com.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2 - 4 - 1 - 7
GER 0 - 2 - 1 - 3

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Miller (Boucher, Grimaldi), 1:02; 2, USA, Boucher (Miller, Grimaldi), 12:40. Penalties: USA, Boucher (slashing), 13:46.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, GER, Uvira (Ackermann, Grozinger), 8:26, (pp); 4, USA, Grimaldi (Miller, Russo), 9:16; 5, GER, Fischbuch (Meirandres), 10:00; 6, USA, Boucher (Russo, Jones), 10:26, (pp); 7, USA, Reid (Kaib), 15:43; 8, USA, Biggs (Boyd, Kerdiles), 19:19. Penalties: GER, Meirandres (hooking), 3:21; USA, Paliotta (elbowing), 7:08; GER, Ackermann (checking-from-behind), 10:12; GER, Ackermann (misconduct), 10:12.

Third Period - Scoring: 9, GER, Pfoderl (Mebus, Ackermann), 6:28, (5-on-3); 10, USA, Pietila (Larraza, Kaib), 15:05. Penalties: USA, Grimaldi (tripping), 5:19; USA, Boucher (elbowing), 5:19; GER, Daxlberger (hooking), 11:10; USA, Biggs (boarding-major), 57:11; USA, Biggs (game-misconduct), 57:11.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 14 18 11 43
GER 6 10 11 27
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Gibson, 60:00 6-6 10-8 11-10 27-24
GER, Lehr, 60:00 14-12 18-14 11-10 43-36

Power Play: USA 1-3; GER 2-5

Penalties: USA 6-33; GER 3-16