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U.S. Edges Russia, 5-3, in U18 Women's Worlds

By USAHockey.com, 01/07/18, 7:45AM EST

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Heise scores twice; U.S. outshoots Russia 38-16

DMITROV, Russia -- Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn.) scored twice as the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team topped Russia, 5-3, here today in its second game at the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women’s World Championship.

“It was a real plus to see us capitalize on those early power plays,” said Joel Johnson, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team. “It was a fantastic environment to play in here tonight. These first two games have been exciting and we look forward to another good one coming up here in a couple days.”   

Heise opened the scoring for Team USA 3:34 into play when she skated down the right wing, eluded a Russian defender and lifted a point-blank shot past the glove of goaltender Milena Tretyak for the power-play goal.

The U.S. returned to the power play just over a minute later when Russia was whistled for tripping, and Britta Curl (Bismarck, N.D.) made it a two-goal game when she put home a loose puck during a net-front scramble at 4:58 of the frame.

Team USA kept the two-goal lead by killing off 1:24 of a five-on-three Russian power-play before Maggie Nicholson (Minnetonka, Minn.) made it 3-0 on the power play with 6:15 remaining in the period. Hadley Hartmetz (Phoenixville, Pa.) had her shot from the point blocked before Nicholson gathered the puck in the slot and fired a shot past Tretyak.

With 4:01 left in the opening stanza, Hannah Bilka (Coppell, Texas) put home a rebound for Team USA’s fourth power-play goal, this time on a five-on-three advantage, to make the score 4-0 entering the first intermission.

Ilona Markova defected a shot past Calla Frank (Hugo, Minn.) with 11:10 left in the middle frame to cut Team USA’s lead to 4-1.

With 2:40 left in the second, Heise netted her second of the game banging home a loose puck during a net-front scramble.

Anastasia Yakubiva of Russia scored on the power play 5:31 into the final frame, before Anastasia Medvedeva converted with 3:52 left, cutting their deficit by two and accounting for the 5-3 final.

Frank finished with 13 saves for Team USA.

The U.S. (1-1-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) closes preliminary-round play on Tuesday (Jan. 9) against Canada at 7:30 a.m. ET. That contest will be streamed live on TeamUSA.USAHockey.com.

NOTES: Britta Curl was named U.S. Player of the Game...  Team USA outshot Russia, 38-16, finished 4-for-8 on the power play and 8-for-11 on the penalty kill. For full game statistics, click here … Reagan Carey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey, is the general manager of the 2018 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team … Joining Johnson as an associate coach is Maura Crowell (Mansfield, Mass.), head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth, while Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass.), associate head women's ice hockey coach at Boston College, is serving as an assistant coach … Team USA has played in the gold-medal game in all 10 of the previous IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championships, capturing the event’s top prize six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017). The U.S. holds an all-time record of 43-4-3-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in 52 games at the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship ... USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. teams that compete internationally.

 

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U.S. Schedule

Date Opponent Location Result U.S. Player of the Game
Sat., Jan. 6 Sweden
Preliminary Round
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W (OT), 2-1 Makenna Webster
Sun., Jan. 7 Russia
Preliminary Round
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W, 5-3 Britta Curl
Tues., Jan. 9 Canada
Preliminary Round
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W, 6-2 Taylor Heise
Fri., Jan. 12 Canada
Semifinals
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W (SO), 4-3 Casey O'Brien
Sat., Jan. 13 Sweden
Gold-Medal Game
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W, 9-3 Dominique Petrie

2018 U18 Women's Worlds News