BRECLAV, Czech Republic – Cayden Primeau (Voorhees, N.J.) made 29 saves, but the United States Under-18 Select Team was edged, 4-3, by the Czech Republic in the championship game of the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup here tonight.
“Our team competed real hard,” said Clark Donatelli (Providence, R.I.), head coach of the 2016 U.S. Under-18 Select Team. “We didn’t get the result we wanted but all of the guys should be very proud of themselves for the way they represented their country.”
Filip Zadina gave the host Czechs a 1-0 lead 9:14 into the game, but Sasha Chmelevski (Northville, Mich.) tied the game, 1-1, on the power play when he collected the rebound from Clayton Phillips’ (Edina, Minn.) shot and beat Czech goaltender Jakub Skarek from a sharp angle with 2:51 left in the opening period.
Mick Messner (Madison, Wis.) staked the U.S. a 2-1 advantage just 1:08 into the middle frame with assists from Ryan Poehling (Lakeville, Minn.) and Reilly Walsh (Andover, N.H.). The Czechs responded at 10:26 on Filip Chytil’s tally, but Team USA regained a 3-2 lead just 27 seconds later when defenseman Tommy Miller (West Bloomfield, Mich.) beat Skarek with a high shot on an odd-man rush. Zadina netted his second goal for the Czechs late in the period to level the score, 3-3, entering the second intermission.
Ondrej Machala scored during the course of a five-minute Czech power play with 7:37 remaining in the game to account for the game-winner. Team USA pulled its goaltender in favor of an extra attacker late in the game but was unable to get the equalizer.
The U.S., which made its first appearance in the championship game since 2013, completed the tournament with a 2-2-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) mark. Team USA has now finished in the top two of the tournament on nine different occasions.
NOTES: The U.S. competed Group A in the preliminary round along with the Czech Republic, Finland and Switzerland … For complete tournament coverage, including Team USA’s roster and statistics, click here … For full game statistics, click here … Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using #HlinkaMemorial
