October 31, 2009

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Through regulation and overtime, Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) made 34 saves and stopped all four shooters he faced in a shootout as the U.S. National Under-18 Team defeated Adrian (Mich.) College, 3-2, here tonight at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

Adrian took a 1-0 lead when Mike Dahlinger skated in on Iles, deked to his backhand and slid the puck between the U.S. goaltender's legs with 4:19 to play in the opening stanza. Team USA couldn't answer back within the first 20 minutes, while Iles made 11 saves in that span.

Mike Towns doubled the Bulldogs' advantage after he converted on a rebound from point-blank range at 7:18 of the middle frame. Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa.) cut Team USA's deficit to 2-1 when his shot from the right corner glanced off of netminder Brad Fogal's stick and into the net with just 1:11 to play in the period. Iles posted another 11-save frame.

Just 2:15 into the third stanza, Saad found Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.), who skated into the Adrian zone, toe-dragged a defenseman and wired a shot into the upper left corner of the net to tie the score, 2-2. Despite both teams getting several quality chances in the closing minutes of regulation, neither team was able to score the go-ahead goal. The biggest save of the night came with just one second on the clock when Iles stretched his left leg pad across the goal line to rob Brad Houston of the game winner. The U.S. goaltender turned aside all 10 shots he saw during the period.

After a scoreless overtime, Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.) scored the first goal of the shootout on Team USA's first attempt. With Iles having stopped each of the four shots he faced in the shootout, Austin Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) was called upon to end the game. After skating in on Fogal, Czarnik deked to his forehand and fired the puck over the left shoulder of the Bulldog goaltender to ice the 3-2 win.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team now will look forward to its first international competition of the season as it travels to Finland for the 2009 Under-18 Four Nations Cup, Nov. 6-8. Team USA will meet host Finland in a pre-tournament contest on Wednesday (Nov. 4) at 6:30 p.m. local/11:30 a.m. EST. The U.S. will then take on under-18 squads from Finland, Switzerland and Sweden during the round-robin tournament.

NOTES: Brandon Saad extended his team lead to 15 points (6-9) with a goal and an assist tonight. He is averaging 1.07 points-per-game ... Saad and Jason Zucker are tied for second on the team with six goals each ... Andy Iles lowered his goals-against average to 2.17 and raised his save percentage to .917 ... Team USA improved to 5-3-0 against NCAA opponents including a 2-0-0 mark against Division III schools ... In three all-time meetings against Adrian College, tonight's win was Team USA's first in the series. Each of the three games has been decided by one goal.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: 1, ADR, Dahlinger (Barkwell), 15:41. Penalties: ADR, Dahlinger (tripping), 6:31; ADR, Waller (cross-checking), 8:36; USA, Arnold (tripping), 11:36; ADR, Waller (holding), 17:31.

Second Period - Scoring: 2, ADR, Kuzyk (Towns), 7:18; 3, USA, Saad (unassisted), 18:49. Penalties: ADR, Workman (tripping), 10:03; ADR, Stansik (tripping), 12:56; USA, Tinordi (tripping), 15:51.

Third Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Zucker (Saad), 2:15. Penalties: ADR, Crawford (hooking), 3:19; ADR, Miller (interference), 5:26; USA, Simonelli (interference), 11:46.

Overtime Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Simonelli (holding), :11; ADR, Houston (tripping), 3:09; USA, Faulk (holding), 4:16.

Shootout - Round 1 - ADR, Dahlinger (saved), USA, Arnold (goal); Round 2 - ADR, Miller (saved), USA, Zucker (saved); Round 3 - ADR, Skelly (saved), USA, Saad (missed); Round 4 - ADR, Stansick (missed), USA, Czarnik (goal).