| U.S. National Under-17 Team Takes Second Place at World Under-17 Challenge |
| Team USA Finishes in Top Three for 16th Time |
| MEDICINE HAT, Alta. –The U.S. National Under-17 Team earned second place at the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge tonight after falling to Russia, 6-2 in the championship game.”It’s obviously not the result we wanted but I’m proud of our team,” head coach John Wroblewski said after the game. “It’s always an honor when you get to represent your country on the international stage. We’ll learn and grow from this experience moving forward, especially in international competition.” After a scoreless first period, Russia netted two in the second. At 7:34 of the middle frame Russia knocked the puck in on the backdoor to lead, 1-0. They added a second at 19:49 of the period to take a 2-0 lead into the third period.The U.S. had several chances in the second and outshot Russia 18-6 in the period.Russia added three more early in the third period before the U.S. scored. Aidan Hreschuk (Long Beach, Calif.) put the U.S. on the board at 16:16 of the third period. Caden Brown (St. Louis, Mo.)and Jeremy Wilmer (Rockville Centre, N.Y.)picked up the assists.Colby Saganiuk (Plainfield, Ill.) netted Team USA’s second of the game while on the power play at 18:12 of the third period to make it 5-2 before Russia added an empty-net goal to secure it, 6-2.With the second-place finish, the U.S. has now finished in the top three at the Under-17 Challenge 16 times. Chaz Lucius (Grant, Minn.) and Sean Behrens (Barrington, Ill.) earned all-tournament honors for Team USA. Lucius led the tournament in points with 10 and in goals with seven. Behrens led the tournament in assists with seven.2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge Team USA Schedule – Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada – Nov. 3-9 DateOpponentRoundTime/Result (Local/ET)Stream/BroadcastThurs., Oct. 31Canada RedPre-TournamentSOW, 7-6Hockey Canada HockeyCanada.ca/WU17Sun., Nov. 3Czech RepublicPreliminaryW, 10-1Hockey Canada HockeyCanada.ca/WU17Mon., Nov. 4Canada WhitePreliminaryW, 6-4Hockey Canada HockeyCanada.ca/WU17Tues., Nov. 5Canada BlackPreliminaryOTL, 4-5Hockey Canada HockeyCanada.ca/WU17Thurs., Nov. 7FinlandQuarterfinalsW, 8-4Hockey Canada HockeyCanada.ca/WU17Fri., Nov. 8Canada WhiteSemifinalsW, 7-3TSNSat., Nov. 9RussiaChampionship GameL, 2-6TSN NOTES: NOTES: Sasha Pastujov was the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. went 1 for 2 on the power play … Kaidan Mbereko made 13 saves for Team USA … The U.S. outshot Russia 34 to 18 … This is Team USA’s 16th finish in the top three at the tournament … The official tournament website can be found here… The Team USA homepage for the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge can be found here. |
