HAMEENLINNA, Finland – Goaltender Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.) made 22 saves for the U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team in its 2-0 loss to Sweden on Friday afternoon at Ritarihalli Arena.
With the loss, the U.S. is now 0-0-1-1 (W-L-OTL-L) in the 2017 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament.
Sweden scored a late first-period goal at the 19:23 mark to open the scoring and take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Sweden added another goal at the 6:23 mark of the second period and held the 2-0 lead into the second intermission.
Despite outshooting Sweden 23-3 in the third period, the U.S. was unable to score on Sweden’s goaltender Olof Lindbom, who finished with 37 saves to earn the shutout.
The U18s are back in action tomorrow at 7 a.m. ET with a matchup against tournament-host Finland at Ritarihalli Arena. The game will be available for live streaming here.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Sweden, 37-24 … Live streaming, schedule, statistics and full schedule information can be found on the official tournament website here … The Team USA tournament homepage can be found here … The U.S. will compete against the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland in this tournament … Complete tournament history can be found here … Follow @USAHockeyNTDP on Twitter for tournament updates and join the conversation on social media by using #5NationsU18 … Seth Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn.) will lead the U.S. National Under-18 Team in the event for the first time. Joining Appert will be associate coach Nick Fohr (Grand Forks, N.D.), goaltending coach Kevin Reiter (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and intern assistant coach Mason Graddock (Stowe, Vt.).
