BOBRUISK, Belarus – Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) had three points (1-2) and seven different players scored goals for the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team as it downed Belarus, 7-1, here tonight in its final preliminary-round game at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's Under-18 Championship. Team USA finished second in Group A with a 3-0-0-1 record and will meet the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. EDT) in Minsk.

"Belarus is a gritty team and played hard tonight. This is one of those games as a coach that you just want to get through it having already clinched a spot in the next round," saidKurt Kleinendorst, head coach of Team USA. "We're looking forward to getting over to Minsk for the quarterfinals. We know what lies ahead. I am very comfortable and confident in this group that we can continue to play up to our potential and keep winning."

Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa.) converted on a centering feed from Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) to open the scoring at 17:56 of the first period. Austin Watson (Ann Arbor, Mich.) doubled Team USA's advantage after he picked up the puck on the left side and backhanded it past netminder Anton Agres while falling down with just 14 seconds to play in the opening frame.

Team USA kept control of the game with three goals in the second period. The first came when Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) sprung Grimaldi who skated down the right side and wired a shot into the upper-right corner of the net at 4:31. Adam Clendening (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) made it 4-0 when he one-timed a shot from the center point under Agres at 7:54 for a power-play marker. Luke Moffatt (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) deflected a Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md.) shot past Agres from the right side of the crease to give the U.S. a five-goal cushion at 14:29. Just 1:03 later, however, Belarus got on the board with a power-play goal after Dmitri Zhevlochenko's shot deflected off of Artur Abmiotka and over netminder Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.).

Bryan Rust(Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) scored just 52 seconds into the third stanza when he shoveled Nick Shore's (Denver, Colo.) feed into the back of the net. Zucker then capped the scoring with a goal at 4:39 after he knocked home a rebound.

Iles made 17 saves to earn the win in net.

NOTES: Connor Brickley (Everett, Mass.) was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Six players had multi-point efforts tonight ... Adam Clendening posted two points (1-1) to improve his team-best point total to six (2-4) ... Jason Zucker (4-1--5) scored his team-leading fourth goal of the tournament and is tied with Rocco Grimaldi (1-4--5) for second on the squad with five points ... Seventeen of Team USA's 20 skaters have notched at least one point at the 2010 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship ... The U.S. improved its all-time record to 6-0-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) ... Team USA's games are available via live webstream at USAHockey.FASTHockey.com... The U.S. has earned an unprecedented six consecutive medals at the IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship, which includes three gold (2005, 2006, 2009), two silver (2004, 2007) and one bronze (2008). Team USA also captured the gold medal in 2002.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2 3 2 -- 7
BLR 0 1 0 -- 1

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Saad (Zucker, Shore), 17:50; 2, USA, Watson (Brickley, Johns), 19:46. Penalties: BLR, Lukianenko (hooking), 6:22; USA, Balisy (tripping), 14:56.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, USA, Grimaldi (Johns), 4:31; 4, USA, Clendening (Saad), 7:54; 5, USA, Moffatt (Tinordi, Grimaldi), 14:29; 6, BLR, Abmiotka (Zhevlochenko, Lopachuk), 15:32 (pp). Penalties: BLR, Zhevlochenko (tripping), 15:54; USA, Faulk (boarding), 11:47; USA, Biggs (interference), 14:49; USA, Watson (boarding), 16:43; BLR, Leonov (holding), 19:23.

Third Period - Scoring: 7, USA, Rust (Shore), :52 (pp); 8, USA, Zucker (Grimaldi, Clendening), 4:39 (pp). Penalties: BLR, Parfeyevets (holding), 4:20; USA, Balisy (tripping), 15:54; BLR, Konnov (check to head major), 10:52; BLR, Konnov (game misconduct), 10:52; USA, Grimaldi (holding), 18:44; BLR, Parfeyevets (slashing), 60:00.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 13 14 19 46
BLR 10 6 2 18
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Iles, 60:00 10-10 6-5 2-2 18-17
BLR, Agres, 60:00 13-12 14-11 19-17 46-39

Power Play: USA 2-6; BLR 1-6
Penalties: USA 6-12; BLR 7-35
Officials: Referees - Antti Boman (FIN), Sami Partanen (FIN); Linesmen - Viktor Tomilov (RUS), Daniel Winge (SWE)
Attendance: 7,000