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U.S. Nat'l Under-18 Team Rolls Past Switzerland, 7-2

By Men's World Championships, 04/13/08, 1:30PM EDT

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KAZAN, Russia - Philip McRae (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) each netted two goals and an assist in helping the U.S. National Under-18 Team record a 7-2 win against Switzerland here tonight in both team's opening game of the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship. Goaltender Joe Cannata (Wakefield, Mass.) turned away 16 of the 18 shots he faced for Team USA.

"After a bit of a lackluster first period, we responded well in the second and third periods," said John Hynes, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "We have areas to improve upon, but I was happy with the way we raised our level of play as the game wore on."

Two goals were scored in the first stanza, including one by each team. Switzerland tallied first, at the 14:41 mark, as Patrick Geering put a close-range shot from the low slot by Cannata up high on the glove side. The United States answered 1:28 later, on the power play, when Justin Florek (Marquette, Mich.) slipped a shot from right in front of the net past Swiss netminder Benjamin Conz. Team captain David Warsofsky (Marshfield, Mass.) handed out one assist, while Morin was credited with the second helper.

Team USA ushered the second period in by lighting up the scoreboard twice in the first 1:34. Morin used a strong individual effort to give the squad its first lead of the night at 1:07. The forward took a shot from the high slot that forced Conz to surrender a rebound Morin immediately slipped through the goal crease. Colin Moore (Medfield, Mass.) buried another rebound seven seconds later, in what proved to be the game-winning marker. McRae and Ryan Hegarty (Arlington, Mass.) each filed assist on the play. McRae converted on a breakaway at the 11:57 mark of the middle session to extend the United States' cushion to three goals. As a result of a timely burst of speed, McRae was able to separate from the Swiss defensemen and beat Conz with a wrister from the left circle that ended up inside the right post.

Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.) made it a 5-1 score just six seconds into the third frame. After Robbie Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) won the faceoff at center ice, Kristo gained possession of the puck and wheeled the into the right circle, where he unleashed a pin-point wrist shot that quickly found the back of the net.

Marc Kampf added a tally at 12:46 of the period for the Swiss, but the Americans tacked on two more goals to close out the contest. McRae successfully crafted his second marker of the evening in similar fashion to his first. With a slight breakaway looming, McRae again used a burst of acceleration to grab the puck near the Swiss' blue line, and then he flipped a backhander by Conz inside the right post.

Morin capped Team USA's scoring display with a power-play goal at the 19:08 mark of the stanza, thanks to contributions from Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.) and Warsofsky. Morin somehow put a shot off Conz's shoulder from a shallow angle at the bottom of the left circle.

Conz finished with 27 saves in the loss for the Swiss.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team continues preliminary round action tomorrow against Belarus at Kazan Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. EDT).

Notes: All U.S. games in the 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship will be audiocast live at USAHockey.com ... The 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship features the best athletes under the age of 18 with participating teams including the United States, Belarus, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland ... Canada defeated Germany, 9-2, and Russia defeated Slovakia, 6-4, in today's Group B games played at Tatneft Arena ... Sweden skated past Belarus, 6-2, in the other Group A tilt at Kazan Arena on Sunday afternoon ... Team USA won the silver medal at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship and won the gold medal at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in both 2005 and 2006 to mark the first time in U.S. hockey history that a team has earned back-to-back gold medals at an IIHF event.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

SUI 1 0 1 2
USA 1 3 3 7

First Period - Scoring: 1, SUI, Geering (unassisted), 14:41; 1, USA, Florek (Warsofsky, Morin), 16:07 (pp). Penalties: USA, Kristo (tripping), 9:56; USA, Wohlberg (checking to the head and neck area), 13:28; USA, Wohlberg (10-misconduct), 13:28; SUI, Jorg (kneeing), 14:20; USA, Schroeder (hooking), 16:38.

Second Period - Scoring: 2, USA, Morin (unassisted), 1:07; 3, USA, Moore (Hegarty, Moore), 1:34; 4, USA, McRae (unassisted), 11:57. Penalties: SUI, Geering (hooking), 4:15; USA, Warsofsky (holding), 5:43; USA, McRae (slashing), 8:36; SUI, Stoop (interference), 15:05.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, USA, Kristo (Czarnik), :06; 2, SUI, Kampf (Geering, Ryser), 12:46 (pp); 6, USA, McRae (Hegarty), 14:40; 7, USA, Morin (Bourque, Warsofsky), 19:08 (pp). Penalties: USA, Grimshaw (tripping), 0:48; USA, Saponari (holding), 6:58; USA, Saponari (hooking), 10:52; SUI, Marolf (holding), 12:57; USA, Florek (high sticking), 13:15; SUI, Kampf (high sticking), 14:59; USA, Czarnik (holding the stick), 16:01; USA, Florek (interference), 16:44; SUI, Loffel (tripping), 18:53.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total

SUI   8 4 6 18
USA   8 16 10 34
           
Goaltenders (SH/SV)   1 2 3 Total
SUI, Conz, 60:00   8-7 16-13 10-7 34-27
USA, Cannata, 60:00   8-7 4-4 6-5 18-16

Power Play: SUI 1-12; USA 2-6
Penalties: SUI 6-12; USA 12-32
Officials: Referees - Ole Hansen, Sergei Kulakov; Linesmen - Roman Gofman, Yakov Manoshkov
Attendance: n/a