KAZAN, Russia - The U.S. National Under-18 Team will play for the bronze medal in the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Hockey Championship Wednesday (April 23) against Sweden after a 3-1 setback to Russia in front of 9,500 spirited fans tonight at Tatneft Arena in the semifinals of the tournament.

"It was an extremely competitive game, and I was proud of our players for the effort and intensity they put in," said John Hynes, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "This group has very strong character and we are looking forward to rebounding in the bronze medal game vs. Sweden."

The Russians scored the only goal of the first period on the power-play goal at the 15:34 mark when Viacheslav Voinov unleashed a blistering shot from the point that entered the net through the legs of Team USA goaltender Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.). Nikita Filatov dished out the lone assist on the play for Russia.

Aslan Raisov gave the Russians 2-0 lead at 17:24 of the second stanza after he re-directed a shot from Andrey Loktionov just inside the right post. Loktionov took the shot from the right circle and Raisov deflected it from the slot.

Team USA made it a 2-1 game at the 14:11 mark of the third period as Ryan Bourque(Boxford, Mass.) netted his first goal of the tournament, with a helper from Jeremy Morin(Auburn, N.Y.). Bourque sent a wrist shot from the far right side of the left circle that beat Russian goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy in the five hole.

The Americans nearly tied the score at 2-2 several times later in the frame, but Pechurskiy came up a host of big saves for the Russians.

With 1:37 left in regulation, Team USA pulled Maxwell from his net to gain the extra attacker. Unfortunately, Loktionov tacked on an empty-net goal at 18:52 to secure the victory for Russia.

Maxwell finished with 25 saves, compared to Pechurskiy's 27 stops for the Russians.

Wednesday's bronze medal game between the U.S. and Sweden will begin at 3 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT) at Tatneft Arena in Kazan.

Notes:...Brandon Maxwell was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Jeremy Morin and David Warsofsky (Marshfield, Mass.) are leading the United States with six points at the 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship ... Russia and Canada will play in the gold medal game Wednesday night at Tatneft Arena ... The U.S. faced Sweden in the preliminary round and was defeated by a score of 5-4 ... Wednesday's bronze medal game will be audiocast live at USAHockey.com ... The 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship features the best athletes under the age of 18 with participating teams including the United States, Belarus, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland ... Team USA won the silver medal at the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championship and won the gold medal at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in both 2005 and 2006 to mark the first time in U.S. hockey history that a team has earned back-to-back gold medals at an IIHF event ... The United States is seeking a medal at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship for the fifth straight year.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

RUS 1 1 1 3
USA 0 0 1 1

First Period - Scoring: 1, Voinov (Filatov), 15:34 (pp). Penalties: USA, Hegarty (tripping), 14:49.

Second Period - Scoring: 2, Raisov (Lazarev), 17:24. Penalties: RUS, Petrov (hooking), 9:37; USA, Lofquist (boarding), 19:17.

Third Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Bourque (Morin), 14:11; 3, RUS, Petrov (Loktionov), 18:52 (en). Penalties: USA, Czarnik (tripping), 9:52; RUS, Loktionov (5-roughing), 19:50; RUS, Loktionov (20-game misconduct), 19:50; USA, Saponari (5-roughing), 59:50; USA, Saponari (20-game misconduct), 19:50.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
RUS   14 9 15 38
USA   10 10 8 28
           
Goaltenders (SH/SV)   1 2 3 Total
RUS, Pechurskiy, 60:00   10-10 10-10 8-7 28-27
USA, Maxwell, 58:23   14-13 9-8 14-14 37-35

Power Play: RUS 1-3; USA 0-1
Penalties:RUS 3-27; USA 5-31
Officials: Referees - Nadir Mandioni, Derek Zalaski; Linesmen - Antti Orelma, Peter Sabelstrom
Attendance: 9,500