MONTHEY, Switzerland — Bode Wilde (Birmingham, Mich.), K’Andre Miller (Hopkins, Minn.) and Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) each notched a goal in a three-goal second period to lift the U.S. National Under-17 Team to a 4-2 win against Slovakia in the opening game of the 2016 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament.
With the win, the U.S. is 1-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) at the tournament. The U17s will continue competition when they face Russia at 8:15 a.m. ET tomorrow.
Team USA had an early power play opportunity in the opening minutes of the game, but was unable to convert. With 2:40 left on the clock in the first frame, Slovakia tallied a power-play goal to take a 1-0 lead over the U.S. heading into the intermission.
On the first play after Slovakia was whistled for charging, Wilde launched a shot past the Slovak netminder at 12:14 in the second period to knot the score, 1-1. Minutes later, Miller added a shorthanded marker to stake a 2-1 lead. Erik Middendorf (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Jake Pivonka (Woodridge, Ill.) collected helpers on the go-ahead goal.
With 1:42 on the clock in the stanza, Farabee capped second-period scoring when he banged a shot in off the pipe to extend Team USA’s lead to 3-1. Ty Emberson (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) registered assists on the play.
Slovakia cut the U.S. lead to one at 4:59 of the final frame by knocking in a loose puck off a rebound on the power play. Following the goal, the U.S. had multiple offensive opportunities, including two shots that rang off the posts.
Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) regained Team USA’s two-goal cushion when he rushed in on net and cut around Slovakia’s netminder on a U.S. power play. Mattias Samuelsson (Voorhees, N.J.) assisted.
Team USA successfully killed off a lengthy five-on-three in the closing minutes of the game to seal the 4-2 victory.
Goaltender Ryan Ullan (Hibbing, Minn.) made 23 saves in the win, while Slovakia’s Michal Vojvoda finished with 29 saves.
NOTES: Joel Farabee was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. is competing in the 2016 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament with Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland … Follow along on Twitter at @usahockeyntdp and using the hashtag #4NationsU17 …
