October 30, 2009

By Becky Olsen
Special to USAHockey.com

There are just three games remaining before the National Team Development Program Under-17 and Under-18 teams head to its first international competition of the season. The U-17s dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to the Omaha Lancers on Thursday in its only contest of the week, while the U-18s will face Omaha on Friday and Adrian College on Saturday.

UNDER-17 TEAM FALLS TO OMAHA: The U-17 team dropped a tough 3-2 decision to USHL west-leader Omaha on Thursday, Oct. 29, for its lone game of the week. Travis Boyd (Hopkins, Minn.) and Blake Pietila (Brighton, Mich.) tallied the USA goals and Matt McNeely (Burnsville, Minn.) stopped 46 of 49 shots. The U-17s are off until Nov. 4-8 when they head to the Under-17 Four Nations Tournament in Slovakia.

“It is good [to play one game] because we are back at home and I think the guys are gaining some confidence in themselves,” U-17 coach Ron Rolston said of the Thursday night affair. “Omaha has a really good team. It is just another test and challenge for us before we go overseas. It is good placement because it is Thursday night and it gives us some rest time for the kids. They have had a pretty tough stretch of travel and now, we are going overseas. This is a good weekend for them to get some rest.”

The U-17s picked up their first point in USHL play as Team USA dropped a 4-3 overtime heartbreaker at Sioux City last Friday (Oct. 23). Team USA was up 3-1 on goals by Dan Carlson (Corcoran, Minn.), Zac Larraza (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) with about three minutes to go in the middle stanza before a late goal by the Musketeers closed the gap to 3-2. Sioux City would score the tying goal in the third and a winner at the 2:37 mark of overtime. On Saturday night, Grimaldi and Ryan Haggerty (Stamford, Conn.) tallied goals as the U-17s dropped a 7-2 decision at Cedar Rapids.

“It was good for our team in terms that we are moving closer to the kids gaining the confidence they need to be in games. We were actually up in that game, 3-1. Although it was a point, I think that guys are disappointed and wanted more than that. It was a good sign from them,” Rolston said. “Each weekend, we are playing more complete games; more minutes during the game. When we learn how to play for the full 60 minutes, we are eventually going to be good when we get that consistency.”

UNDER-18 TEAM RIDING WIN STREAK: The Under-18 team (6-5-0-1 overall) carries a three-game winning streak into Friday’s 7:05 p.m. showdown with USHL West leader Omaha. The U-18s close out the weekend by facing NCAA Division III foe Adrian College on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. Last season, Adrian edge the U-18s, 5-4, and holds a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series.

“We are still looking for consistency in the way that we play,” U-18 head coach Kurt Kleinendorst said. “It is not just a 17-year-old issue; we had success last weekend but we can not get complacent. Every weekend is a new test. We have challenges in a different way with this group but we have to accept the challenge.

“The U-17s play Omaha on Thursday, and we play them the next night. We need to start having some success in the USHL and on Saturday, we are playing a team [Adrian College] that we have not beaten yet.”

The U-18s won three straight games last weekend in the Empire State. Nick Shore (Denver, Colo.), Joe Wilson (North Syracuse, N.Y.) and Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) each scored twice as the U-18s rolled past Utica College, 10-1, on Oct. 23. Netminder Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) stopped 39 shots as the U-18s knocked off No. 6-ranked Cornell University, 3-2, on Saturday in Iles’ hometown. Team USA closed out the weekend with a 4-1 win over Colgate behind the strength of goals by Chase Balisy (Fullerton, Calif.), Zucker, Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.) and Shore, while Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) stopped 29 of 30 shots.

“This was a fun game to coach and a fun game for everyone on our side to be a part of. We played sharp, we battled and we did a lot of things well,” Kleinendorst said about the win over Cornell. “We had a nice weekend.”

NOTEBOOK

* Forward Ryan Haggerty (Stamford, Conn.) continues to pace the U-17s in scoring with eight points (5-3). Forward Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) is second with six points (2-4). Defenseman Matt Van Voorhis (Edina, Minn./2-3) and forward Cole Bardreau (Fairport, N.Y./2-3) are for third with five points each.

* Grimaldi, defenseman Alexx Privitera (Old Tappan, N.J.) and forward Zac Larraza (Scottsdale, Ariz.) are tied for the U-17 team lead with two power-play markers. The U-17s have converted on 9-of-58 power-play opportunities (15.5 percent).

* Goaltender Matt McNeely (Burnsville, Minn.) has appeared in nine games for the U-17s, posting a 1-8-1 record along with a 4.78 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage. Over the course of the last five games, McNeely has stopped 239 of the 266 shots he has faced (89.8 percent).

* U-18 defenseman Jon Merrill (Brighton, Mich.) has already surpassed his point total from last season. He is second on the U-18 team with 10 points, including a team-best eight assists. Merrill tallied eight points (3-5) in 43 games last season while splitting time between the U-17 and U-18 teams.

* The U-18s are averaging 3.83 goals per game while giving up just 2.17 goals per game.

* Forward Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa.) continues to pace the U-18s in scoring with 12 points (5-7) in 12 games, an average of 1.0 points per game. He skated in seven games for the U-17s in 2008-09 and tallied 11 points (6-5) in that span.

* Defenseman Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn.) has a team-high seven goals, six of which have come via the power play. He is currently tied for third on the U-18 team with nine points.

* The U-18s are 17-for-72 (.236) on the power play. Faulk paces the squad with six while Chase Balisy (Fullerton, Calif.) is second with three.

* Between the pipes, the U-18 tandem of Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) and Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) have been consistent. Campbell paces the squad with a 2.01 GAA and .929 saves percentage, while Iles carries 2.21 GAA and .909 save percentage into this weekend.

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.