RAUMA, Finland – The U.S. National Under-18 Team fell to Russia today, 5-3, in its opening game at the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship at Rauma Aijanuso.

The U.S. opened the scoring when James O’Brien (Maplewood, Minn.) beat Russian netminder Vadim Zhelobnyuk three minutes into the game  with Team USA on the power play. Ryan McDonagh (Arden Hills, Minn.) found O’Brien at the bottom of the left circle and O’Brien snuck a wrist shot past Zhelobnyuk to the short side.

Russia replied 14:35 later when Nikita Filatov tipped a shot from the point over U.S. netminder Thomas McCollum's (Sanborn, N.Y.) shoulder to knot the game at 1-1.

Russia gained its first advantage of the game with a power-play goal  by Sergey Krostin 3:44 into the second frame. After a Russian defenseman missed the net with a shot from the point that bounced off the end boards, Krostin picked up the rebound on the right side of the U.S. goal and slipped it past McCollum. U.S. forward Jordan Schroeder (Lakeville, Minn.) evened the game at 2-2 before the end of the second period when he tapped home a loose puck in front of the Russian net. A slap shot from Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.) bounced around in the Russian crease and Schroeder tapped the loose puck into the net.  

Russia opened the third-period scoring when Dmitry Kugryshev beat McCollum with a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle eight minutes into the frame to give the Russians a 3-2 lead. Dmitry Kagarlitsky then scored a wraparound goal 4:42 later to stretch the Russian advantage to 4-2.

With 5:22 remaining in the contest, O’Brien notched his second goal of the night when he tipped a Vinny Saponari (Powder Springs, Ga.) pass by Zhelobnyuk to make it a 4-3 game.

Russia scored an empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

“We squandered some great opportunities tonight,” said Ron Rolston, head coach of Team USA. “We can’t ask for more chances on the power play. We just need to bear down and cash in when the time comes. Russia is a good hockey team and their netminder played well tonight. We will work on a few things tonight and in the morning to help us be more successful against Germany tomorrow.”

The U.S. National Under-18 Team will face Germany tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. EDT in its second of four preliminary-round contests.

NOTES: O’Brien (U.S.) and Zhelobnyuk (RUS) earned Best Player of the Game Honors … Tonight’s defeat was the first for the U.S. National Under-18 Team in 12 games at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship. Team USA’s last lost came to Russia in the gold-medal game at the 2004 IIHF World Under-18 Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

SCORING SUMMARY

Scoring By Period
RUS 1-1-3 -- 5
USA 1-1-1 –- 3

First Period – Scoring: 1, USA, O’Brien (McDonagh, Vaive), 3:00 (pp); 2, RUS, Filatov (Kulikov, Loktionov), 17:35. Penalties – RUS, Chudinov (high sticking), 1:31; RUS, Goncharov (hooking), 4:14; USA, Wilson (hooking), 12:30; USA, Shattenkirk (interference), 12:59; USA, Fairchild (cross checking), 18:33.

Second Period – Scoring: 3, RUS, Korostin (Chudinov, Seleznev), 3:44 (pp); 4, USA, Schroeder (Wilson, Shattenkirk), 17:40. Penalties – USA, Fairchild (hooking), 3:44; RUS, Loktionov (interference), 6:07; USA, O’Brien (hooking), 7:19; RUS, Korostin (hooking), 8:12; RUS, Karamov (slashing), 11:32; RUS, Chudinov (hooking), 11:32; RUS, Bench (too many players), 15:15; RUS, Churlyaev (charging), 15:38; USA, White (hooking), 16:49; RUS, Cherepanov (high sticking), 17:40; RUS, Petrov (elbowing), 18:57; RUS, Churlyaev (interference), 19:25. 

Third Period – Scoring: 5, RUS, Kugryshev (Filatov, Kulikov), 8:00; 6, RUS, Kagarlitskiy (Karamov), 12:42; 7, USA, O’Brien (Saponari), 14:38; 8, RUS, Lukyanchikov, 19:33 (en). Penalties – RUS, Averin (hooking), 2:59; USA, R. Hayes (cross checking), 5:57; RUS, Filatov (high sticking), 7:38; RUS, Kulikov (high sticking), 15:39; USA, O’Brien (hooking), 18:44; USA, Rust (tripping), 19:51.

Shots By Period        1   2  3   TOTAL
RUS                    13  8  11   32  
USA                    11  15 20   46

Goaltending (SH-SV)    1   2   3   TOTAL
RUS, Zhelobnyuk(60:00) 10  14  19   43
USA, McCollum(59:15)   12  7   9    28

Power Play: RUS 2-9; USA 2-14

Penalties: RUS 14-28; USA 9-18

Attendance: 1,639

Officials:  Aleksi Rantala (FIN); Linesmen- Frantisek Kalivoda (CZE), Alexander Pavlovic (SVK)

2007 U.S. National Under-18 Team Schedule 
April 12-22 • Tampere & Rauma, Finland

Date          Opponent          Location  Time(EDT)/Result
April 7       Switzerland*      Sakyla      L, 4-3
April 8       Finland*          Rauma       T, 4-4
April 12      Russia            Rauma       L, 5-3
April 13      Germany           Rauma       9:00 a.m.
April 15      Canada            Rauma       11:30 a.m.
April 17      Latvia            Rauma       9: 00 a.m.
April 19/20   Playoff-Round     TBA         TBA
April 22      Bronze-Medal Game Tampere     7:00 a.m.
April 22      Gold-Medal Game   Tampere     11:00 a.m.

*Exhibition Game