November 7, 2009

HARJAVALTA, Finland – Bryan Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) netted two goals as the U.S. National Under-18 Team topped host Finland, 4-1, here today in its second game of the 2009 Under-18 Four Nations Cup. With the win, Team USA improved to 2-0-0-0 and owns sole possession of first place heading into its final game against Switzerland at 11 a.m. EST Sunday.

After neither team could find the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes, Jon Merrill (Brighton, Mich.) opened the scoring after his point shot through traffic beat netminder Sami Aittokallio just 1:01 into the second frame for a power-play goal. Rust doubled the U.S. advantage when he broke in all alone and slipped the puck through Aittokallio's legs at 12:09.

Just 20 seconds into the third stanza, Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.) took a feed from Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) and put a backhanded shot into the upper-left corner to make it 3-0. Mika Partanen gave Finland a spark, cutting the deficit to 3-1, with a power-play tally with 6:25 to play. With Aittokallio pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Finland tried to take advantage of a six-on-four power-play opportunity in the closing 1:49 of the game. With Team USA short one skater, Arnold poked the puck out of the zone and Rust streaked past the defense, collected the puck and fired it into the empty net with 1:24 remaining to ice the 4-1 victory for Team USA.

U.S. netminder Jack Campbell made 18 saves to earn the win.

NOTES:Bryan Rust was named Team USA's Player of the Game ...In addition to Rust's two goals, Bill Arnold (1-1--2) and Matthew Nieto (0-2--2) each recorded two points ... Team USA out shot Finland by a 45-19 margin ... Forwards Nick Bjugstad (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass.) were added to the U.S. National Under-18 Team roster for the 2009 Under-18 Four Nations Cup ... The U.S. National Under-18 Team is one of five U.S. National Teams, including the U.S. Women's National Team, U.S. Men's Select Team, U.S. Junior Select Team and U.S. National Under-17 Team, are in action during the International Ice Hockey Federation's November international break. To stay up-to-date on all of the U.S. National Teams competing this week, visit usahockey.com.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Johns (boarding), 2:02; USA, Clendening (roughing), 11:56; USA, Tinordi (delay of game), 14:03; FIN, Riikola (holding), 19:02.

Second Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Merrill (Forbort, Nieto), 1:01 (pp); 2, USA, Rust (unassisted), 12:09. Penalties: FIN, Nyqvist (hooking), 2:07; USA, Saad (slashing), 13:54; FIN, Nyqvist (slashing), 18:03.

Third Period - Scoring: 3, USA, Arnold (Nieto), :20; 4, FIN, Partanen (Asten, Nyqvist), 13:35 (pp); 5, USA, Rust (unassisted), 18:11 (sh, en). Penalties: FIN, Hovinen (holding), 3:57; USA, Merrill (slashing), 13:28; USA, Clare (major butt-ending), 15:37; USA, Clare (game misconduct), 15:37.