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USA U18 Falls to Canada in Championship

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U.S. Under-18 Select Team Falls in Ivan Hlinka Title Game
Nedeljkovic stops 26 shots in goal
PIESTANY, Slovakia — The U.S. Under-18 Select Team lost to Canada, 4-0, in the championship game at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament today.
“Canada was the better team tonight,” said head coach Bob Corkum. “They came out with more energy than we did and we just didn’t get it done. The guys gave it everything they had, but give credit to Canada. Everybody worked incredibly hard and bought into the systems this week. We overcame a ton of adversity in every game, but we just ran out of gas.”
Canada was able to build a 2-0 lead after two periods on goals at 3:58 of the first and 11:23 of the second.
The Canadians increased their lead to 4-0 late in the final stanza after a power-play goal at 12:29 and an even-strength tally two minutes later.
U.S. goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (Parma, Ohio) made 26 stops in the contest. Forward Nick Schmaltz(Verona, Wis.) finished the tournament with five goals and eight points to lead all Americans in scoring.
The runner-up performance marks the eighth time that Team USA has earned second-place honors in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.