SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario — Jake Wise (North Andover, Mass.) scored twice and Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) added a goal and two assists but the U.S. National Under-17 Team fell to Canada Black, 4-3, in the final game of the preliminary round at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
With the loss, Team USA finishes the preliminary round in second place in Group A with a 1-1-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record. The U.S. will face Sweden, who finished third in Group B, in a quarterfinal matchup at 12 p.m. ET on Thursday (Nov. 3).
“I thought our guys played well; I thought Canada obviously played really well,” said Danton Cole, head coach of the U.S. National Under-17 Team. “We always look for certain things and the way our guys kept battling right until the final buzzer was a good thing.”
At 4:09, Canada Black opened scoring when the puck deflected high and into the U.S. net. A few minutes later, Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) nearly tied the score for the U.S., but his shot rang off the crossbar.
Just past the midway point of the opening period at 11:20, Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) collected the puck in the neutral zone, broke through Canada Black’s defensemen on a rush to the net and slid the puck over to Jake Wise (North Andover, Mass.), who evened the game at 1-1.
With 6:21 on the clock, Canada Black added a power-play goal to close out the period at 2-1.
Wise scored his second of the night, a wrist shot from the right circle, 1:12 into the second frame during a U.S. power play to even the score again. Farabee added his second assist of the evening on the play.
The Canadians added a pair of goals in a 3:55 span, including one during a Canada Black power play, to take a 4-2 lead going into the final period.
At 8:09 of the third stanza, Farabee received a cross-ice pass from Jacob Semik (Canton, Mich.) in the right circle and put home the puck during a Team USA power play.
The U.S. pulled goaltender Keegan Karki (Sartell, Minn.), who took the net with 6:54 remaining in the second, with about a minute and a half to play for the extra skater, but Team USA was unable to convert.
NOTES: Jake Wise was named the U.S. Player of the Game … Joel Farabee’s three points tonight bring his tournament total to five points (5-2), which is tied for second among tournament skaters … For more information on the U.S. National Under-17 Team competing at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, click here… The U.S. is competing in Group A with Canada Black, Canada White and the Czech Republic, while Group B includes Canada Red, Finland, Russia and Sweden.
