| Team USA awaits opponent for final contest Friday PIESTANY, Slovakia – The U.S. Under-18 Select Team rounded out preliminary-round play of the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a 5-4 shootout loss to Sweden here at Easton Arena. The U.S. will learn its opponent for Friday’s final game of the tournament at the conclusion of today’s games.“It was obviously a tough loss to Sweden,” said head coach Pat Ferschweiler. “I’m very proud of the guys’ effort. I thought everybody gave everything they had. At the end of the day, the squad came together and played hard. They should be very proud of themselves.” The U.S. raced out to a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the first period when Alex Gaffney (Norton Shores, Mich.) snuck the puck through a scrum in the crease that beat Swedish goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.Sweden equalized with 3:38 to play in the opening frame off a goal from Zion Nybeck to make it a 1-1 game heading into the first intermission. Team USA came out strong in the second period and once again scored early, this time off the stick of Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) who fired a wrist shot from the right circle past Wallstedt to regain the lead. At the 14:21 mark, Mackie Samoskevich (Sandy Hook, Conn.) extended the U.S. lead to 3-1 when he finished a tic-tac-toe play from Cross Hanas (Highland Village, Texas) and Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) while stationed at the back. Sweden rallied in the opening minutes of the final frame, scoring back-to-back goals just 1:13 apart to knot the game at three goals apiece. The U.S. regained the lead with 11:18 to play in regulation after Noah Ellis (Urbandale, Iowa) fired a Swedish clear through traffic and past Wallstedt, but Swedish forward William Eklund put away a game-tying goal with 4:48 remaining to force overtime.Both teams generated chances in the five-minute overtime period, but could not convert and moved to a shootout. After seven rounds, Daniel Ljungman of Sweden snuck the puck past Louden Hogg (Edina, Minn.) to secure a Swedish victory. Hogg made a tournament-high 25 saves in goal for Team USA. For the complete game statistics, click here. NOTES: Ryan Kirwan was named the U.S. Player of the Game … the U.S. edged Sweden 33-30 in shots … Alex Gaffney tallied his second power-play goal of the tournament to open the U.S. scoring … Follow Team USA throughout the tournament by clicking here. |
