October 23, 2009

UTICA, N.Y. – Nick Shore (Denver, Colo.), Joe Wilson (North Syracuse, N.Y.) and Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) each scored twice as the U.S. National Under-18 Team rolled to a 10-1 victory here tonight at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Wilson, suiting up for Team USA for the first time, put the U.S. on the board at 7:50 after he slipped the puck past netminder Anthony Luckow for a power-play tally. Just nine seconds later, Zucker collected his own rebound and banked a shot off Luckow to give Team USA a two-goal advantage. Matt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) took a touch pass from Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa.), walked in toward the net, deked to his forehand and slipped the puck into the open goal at 8:57. The U.S. out shot the Pioneers 18-4 in the opening stanza, with Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) stopping all four shots he saw.

Team USA broke out for a four-goal second stanza, starting with Zucker's second tally, which came after Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) found Zucker, who fired a shot over Luckow's glove at 2:58 to make it 4-0. After Wilson added his second goal of the game at 5:21, Chase Balisy (Fullerton, Calif.) potted a power-play goal at the 16:00 mark when he drove to the net and slipped a shot into the lower-left corner of the cage. Just 2:10 later, Shore made it 7-0 after converting on a Luke Moffatt (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) feed.

Vincent Nucci put the Pioneers on the board at 3:33, but Team USA came storming back for three more goals including a power-play marker from Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn.) at 6:39, Shore's second score of the game at 8:36 and Kevin Clare's (New Rochelle, N.Y.) goal with just 2:05 to play in regulation to account for the 10-1 final.

Campbell made 16 saves on the night.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team returns to action Saturday against No. 6-ranked Cornell University of ECAC Hockey at Lynah Rink at 7 p.m. EDT.

NOTES: Nick Shore posted four points (2-2) to pace the U.S. tonight, while Jason Zucker (2-1) and Matthew Nieto (0-3) each bagged three points ... Team USA out shot the Pioneers by a 38-17 margin ... Brandon Saad's assist extended his team point lead to 10 (5-5). He is averaging a point-per-game and has scored in the squad's last eight contests ... Justin Faulk netted his team-leading sixth goal and fifth power-play marker ... Kevin Clare registered his first point of the season with his goal in the third period. Every U.S. National Under-18 Team skater now has at least one point this year ...Joe Wilson was added to the U.S. National Under-18 Team's roster earlier today. He will join Team USA for this three-game road trip in New York. Wilson plays full-time for the Syracuse Stars of the Eastern Junior Hockey League. He has verbally committed to Colgate University, which Team USA will meet on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Wilson (Shore), 7:50 (pp); 2, USA, Zucker (unassisted), 7:59; 3, USA, Rust (Saad, Arnold), 8:57. Penalties: UTI, Birnstill (roughing), :56; UTI, Chlanda (slashing), 7:08; UTI, Anderson (roughing), 16:26; UTI, Fitzgibbons (charging), 16:26; USA, Moffatt (roughing), 16:26; UTI, Nucci (tripping), 19:24.

Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Zucker (Nieto, Merrill), 2:58; 5, USA, Wilson (Shore), 5:21; 6, USA, Balisy (Nieto, Faulk), 16:00 (pp); 7, USA, Shore (Moffatt, Johns), 18:10. Penalties: UTI, Schmitt (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:31; USA, Clare (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:31; USA, Nieto (interference), 7:50; USA, Clare (goaltender interference), 8:08; USA, Arnold (hooking), 12:29; UTI, Schmitt (tripping), 14:57.

Third Period - Scoring: 8, UTI, Nucci (Coffman), 3:33; 9, USA, Faulk (Forbort), 6:39 (pp); 10, USA, Shore (Moffatt), 8:36; 11, USA, Clare (Zucker, Nieto), 17:55. Penalties: UTI, Burkholder (hooking), 3:41; UTI, Anderson (interference), 6:15; USA, Tinordi (interference), 11:18, UTI, Bench (too many players), 19:54.