FRISCO, Texas – Nine different players registered a point as the United States Under-17 Select Team defeated Switzerland, 6-2, in the opening game of the 2016 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco, Texas.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” said Cory Laylin (St. Michael, Minn.), head coach of the 2016 U.S. Under-17 Select Team. “It was great to see us have success on the power play early after practicing the man advantage primarily with small area games.”
The United States jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period with a pair of power-play goals scored just 1:45 apart by TJ Walsh (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Jacob Semik (Canton, Mich.). After Switzerland’s Valentin Nussbaumer scored at the 13:55 mark to halve the Team USA lead, Walsh made it 3-1 with his second goal of the game in the final minute of the period, beating Swiss goaltender Akira Schmid on a breakaway after blocking a shot at the U.S. blueline.
Nussbaumer scored again for Switzerland 2:29 into the middle period to cut the U.S. lead to 3-2, but Team USA responded late in the period as Blake McLaughlin (Grand Rapids, Minn.) poked home his own rebound to increase the U.S. advantage to 4-2 entering the final period.
McLaughlin and Ryan Savage (Scottsdale, Ariz.) then netted goals 29 seconds apart, at 6:51 and 7:20 of the final period, to make the final score 6-2.
Christian Krygier (Novi, Mich.) finished with two assists for Team USA, while Brady Smith (Palatine, Ill.), Gavin Hain (Grand Rapids, Minn.), Devlin McCabe (North Oaks, Minn.), Walsh and Semik each added an assist.
Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.) made 22 saves for Team USA in the victory.
Team USA will continue play Wednesday (Aug. 10) against Slovakia at 8:15 p.m. ET at the Dr Pepper StarCenter Arena in Frisco, Texas.
NOTES: In addition to the United States, the 2016 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament will also include teams from Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany … Ann Arbor, Michigan, was the last U.S. city to host the Under-17 Five Nations Tournament (2011) … The Dr Pepper StarCenter Arena, host site for the 2016 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament, serves as the practice facility for the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars.
