FARGO, N.D. – Adam Murray (Anchorage, Alaska) made 36 saves as the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team thwarted a late come-back by Finland to earn the 4-3 victory here tonight. Team USA improved to 2-0-0-0 at the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship with the win.

The U.S. got on the board first at 6:02 of the opening frame when A.J. Treais (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) streaked across the blue line and fired a wrister into the upper right corner of the net. With both teams skating four players aside, Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.) made it 2-0 after he flew in on the right wing and put his shot through netminder Joni Ortio at 9:54. With just 2:14 to go in the first period, Murray brought the home crowd to its feet after making back-to-back highlight-reel saves on both Toni Rajala and Mikael Granlund. Murray rolled on his back from right to left with his legs in the air to stop Rajala, then came back with his left leg to rob Granlund of an open net.

Kevin Lynch (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) tallied at 12:46 of the second stanza after he popped out from the left corner and wired a shot over Ortio's left shoulder. With just 55 seconds left in the frame, Lynch found Chris Brown (Flower Mound, Texas) who skated out from the right side of the net and slid the puck under a sprawling Ortio to give the U.S. the 4-0 lead.

Just 12 seconds into the third frame, Mikael Granlund picked up the puck in front of the U.S. goal and put the puck past Murray to make it 4-1. Teemu Pulkkinen cut Finland's deficit in half with 5:02 remaining in the third when he snapped a shot past Murray. Sami Vatanen drew Finland within one when his backhand shot found the top corner of the net with just 3:24 to play. The final three minutes brought a flurry of action in the U.S. zone, but Murray and the defense did not allow Finland to score, holding on for the 4-3 victory.

The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team is back in action on Monday (April 13) when it meets Slovakia at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Urban Plains Center.

NOTES:Adam Murray was named Team USA's Player of the Game. Murray did not allow a goal in the first 99:14 of the tournament ... Kevin Lynch leads Team USA with six points (3-3), while Jerry D'Amigo is second with four points (2-2) ... The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team has earned a medal in each of the last five IIHF World Under-18 Championships, including the gold (2005, 2006), silver (2004, 2007) and the bronze (2008). Team USA also captured the gold at the 2002 IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2 2 0 -- 4
FIN 0 0 3 -- 3

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Treais (Bourque, Samuelsson), 6:02; 2, USA, D'Amigo (Lynch), 9:54. Penalties: FIN, Rissanen (holding), 9:07; USA, Bourque (interference), 9:30; USA, Henrion (interference), 12:45; USA, Fowler (holding), 17:46.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, USA, Lynch (D'Amigo), 12:46; 4, USA, Brown (Lynch, Zucker), 19:05. Penalties: USA, Bourque (interference) :42; FIN, Rajala (hooking), 5:00; USA, Morin (interference), 6:28; FIN, Rajala (hooking), 7:47; USA, Ryan (interference), 8:48; FIN, Aaltonen (interference), 16:25.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, FIN, Granlund (Rajala, Vatanen), :12; 6, FIN, Pulkkinen (Nattinen), 14:58; 7, FIN, Haula (Naatinen, Pulkkinen), Penalties: USA, Henrion (interference), 2:23; FIN, Rissanen (interference), 6:31; USA, Nieto (roughing), 12:02; USA, Nieto (misconduct), 12:02; FIN, Aaltonen (roughing), 56:02.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 12 11 8 31
FIN 9 10 20 39
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Murray, 60:00 9-9 10-10 20-17 39-36
FIN, Ortio 59:05 12-10 11-11 8-8 31-27

Power Play: USA 0-5; FIN 0-7
Penalties: USA 9-26; FIN 6-12
Officials: Referees - Martin Frano (CZE), Owe Luthcke (NOR); Linesmen - Alexei Medvedev (RUS), Miroslav Valach (SVK)
Attendance: 3,166