PIESTANY, Slovakia – The U.S. Under-18 Select Team scored five second-period goals en route to an 8-1 win over Slovakia today in an exhibition matchup prior to the start of the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic.

“It was a great game for us,” said Clark Donatelli (Providence, R.I.), head coach of the 2016 U.S. Under-18 Select Team. “We got a good opportunity today to work on our special teams. I thought the boys worked extremely hard and I can see them really starting to buy in.”

Finland took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission with a goal by Adam Ruzicka 14 seconds into play.

Michael Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.) got the United States on the board with a game-tying goal 12 seconds into the second period and Ryan Poehling (Lakeville, Minn.) gave Team USA the lead 58 seconds later. Vanya Lodnia (Novi, Mich.) and Poehling then added a pair of goals 15 seconds apart, at 4:10 and 4:25 of the middle frame, to make it 4-1. Poehling completed the hat trick with his third goal of the period at 6:24 to give the U.S. a 5-1 advantage.

Brannon McManus (Newport Beach, Calif.), Poehling and Pastujov added third-period goals to make the final 8-1.

Poehling (4-0--4) and Pastujov (2-2--4) each finished with four points, while Lodnia (1-2--3) finished with three points.

Matt Miller (Leo, Ind.), Tommy Miller (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Sasha Chmelevski (Northville, Mich.) each added a pair of assists.

Keith Petruzzelli (Wilbraham, Mass.) finished with 34 saves in goal for the U.S.

Team USA will open the tournament against Finland at 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday (Aug. 8). All three of Team USA’s preliminary-round games will take place in Breclav, Czech Republic.

NOTES: The U.S. is competing in Group A along with the Czech Republic, Finland and Switzerland … For complete tournament coverage, including Team USA’s roster and statistics, click here.