BRECLAV, Czech Republic – Sasha Chmelevski (Northville, Mich.) tallied three points as the United States Under-18 Select Team rallied from a two-goal deficit to earn a 4-3 victory over Switzerland in the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
“Our guys didn’t get rattled” said Clark Donatelli (Providence, R.I.), head coach of the 2016 U.S. Under-18 Select Team. “We’re working really hard and we found a way to battle back and win today.”
Switzerland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on a pair of goals scored just 46 seconds apart by Ramon Tanner and Nando Eggenberger, but the U.S. answered with two first period goals of its own, the first coming from Michael Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.) who scored 44 seconds after Eggenberger’s tally to halve the Swiss lead. Chmelevski then scored his first of two goals on the day, beating Swiss goaltender Joel Messerli with a wrist shot late in the opening period to tie the game, 2-2.
Switzerland regained the lead on a goal from Sven Leuenberger at 11:20 of the second period. But the U.S. responded again late in the period as Mick Messner (Madison, Wis.) intercepted a clearing attempt by Messerli and fired the puck into an open Swiss net to even the score, 3-3, after two periods.
The game remained tied until the waning minutes of the third period when, after a Swiss minor penalty, Chmelevski was credited with a goal at the 13:34 mark after a Swiss defender accidently batted the puck into his own goal during a net-front scramble.
Austin Pratt (Lakeville, Minn.), Chmelevski and Pastujov each added assists for Team USA.
Goaltender Cayden Primeau (Voorhees, N.J.) made 18 saves for the U.S.
Team USA, now 2-0 in Group A, continues play tomorrow (Aug. 10) against the Czech Republic at 1:00 p.m. ET. Fans can watch a live stream of the game here.
NOTES: The U.S. is competing in Group A along with the Czech Republic, Finland and Switzerland … Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using #HlinkaMemorial
