October 30, 2009

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.) scored twice in regulation and once during the shootout, but it was not enough as the U.S. National Under-18 Team fell to the Omaha Lancers, 4-3, here tonight.

Team USA converted on its first power play of the opening stanza when Derek Forbort's (Duluth, Minn.) pass from the left point found Nick Shore (Denver, Colo.) who buried the puck into the open goal from the right side at 11:18. Arnold doubled the U.S. advantage after he ripped the puck past netminder Jeff Teglia and into the lower left corner of the net from the bottom of the left faceoff circle at 13:33.

Erik Haula cut Omaha's deficit in half when he took a feed and snuck a shot inside the right post 6:45 into the middle frame. Team USA regained its two-goal advantage while on the power play when Arnold tipped a Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) right-point shot past Teglia from the left side of the crease at 16:16.

The Lancers made it 3-2 with a power-play goal off the stick of Anthony Hamburg at 7:42 of the third period. Just 47 seconds later, Matt White broke through the U.S. defense and slid the puck through Jack Campbell's (Port Huron, Mich.) legs to tie the score. Neither team found the go-ahead goal at the end of regulation, sending the game to overtime.

After a scoreless overtime period, White tallied in Omaha's second attempt to give the Lancers a 1-0 lead in the shootout. After the next two shooters were unsuccessful, Arnold skated in on Teglia, deked to his forehand and slid the puck past the sprawling Omaha netminder to tie it up. On the Lancers' fifth and final chance, Seth Ambroz put a backhanded shot by Campbell and Teglia thwarted Matt Nieto's (Long Beach, Calif.) attempt to allow Omaha to skate away with the 4-3 win.

Campbell made 30 stops during regulation.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team is back in action Saturday night when it welcomes NCAA Division III opponent Adrian College to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. Game time is set for 7 p.m. EDT. FASTHockey.com will webcast the game live. For more information, visit FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: Bill Arnold's two points (2-0) led Team USA. He is tied for second on the squad with five goals this season ... Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa.) registered his team-leading 13th point (5-8) with an assist tonight ... With the overtime loss, the U.S. National Under-18 Team picked up the NTDP's second point in United States Hockey League action ... Omaha leads the USHL with 16 points (8-1-0 record).

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Shore (Forbort, Czarnik), 11:18 (pp); 2, USA, Arnold (Saad), 13:33. Penalties: OMA, Oddo (elbowing), 9:33; OMA, Domopoulos (checking from behind), 14:59; USA, Johns (interference), 15:32; USA, Saad (delay of game), 16:17; OMA, Oddo (delay of game), 16:17; OMA, Brown (slashing), 20:00.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, Haula (Ambroz, White), 6:45; 4, USA, Arnold (Johns, Faulk), 16:16 (pp). Penalties: USA, Clendening (tripping), 7:47; USA, Johns (slashing), 10:29; OMA, Daugherty (roughing), 15:27; USA, Simonelli (holding), 18:16.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, OMA, Hamburg (Mattson, Ludwig), 7:42 (pp); 6, OMA, White (unassisted),8:29. Penalties: USA, Simonelli (holding), 4:53; USA, Zucker (tripping), 6:51.

Overtime Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Saad (tripping), 4:51.

Shootout - Round 1, OMA, Haula (missed), USA, Saad (saved); Round 2, OMA, White (goal), USA, Shore (saved); Round 3, OMA, Hamburg (saved), USA, Arnold (goal); Round 4, OMA, Eveland (saved), USA, Czarnik (missed); Round 5, OMA, Ambroz (goal), USA, Nieto (saved).