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U.S. National U17 Team Trumps Czech Republic, 6-1

By USA Hockey's NTDP, 11/02/15, 1:45AM EST

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Reedy Scores Twice; St. Cyr Stops 26-of-27 Shots Against


DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia - Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) led the U.S. National Under-17 Team with two goals in tonight’s, 6-1, victory over the Czech Republic to open preliminary-round play in the 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Goaltender Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.), who was named U.S. Player of the Game, stopped 26-of-27 Czech shots in the win.

Team USA opened the scoring just under four minutes into the first period when Josh Norris (Oxford, Mich.) shoveled the puck out of the left corner toward the net and Jacob Tortora (Victor, N.Y.) redirected the puck past the Czech goaltender. Eighteen seconds later, USA dumped-and-chased the puck into the right offensive corner; Sasha Chmelevski (Huntington Beach, Calif.) dug it out and passed the puck to Joey Cassetti (Pleasanton, Calif.) in the slot. The puck bobbled between him and a Czech defenseman, eventually glancing off Cassetti’s skate into the net for the 2-0 lead.

With less than five minutes to play in the opening frame, Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) shot the puck from the right half-wall and Reedy collected the rebound for an easy marker.

In the middle frame, the Czech Republic controlled most of the play for the first half the period, which included three straight power-play opportunities. Team USA killed all three chances and kept the Czechs 0-for-6 throughout the evening. 

Team USA picked up back-to-back goals in the closing two minutes of the period. First, Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.) forced a turnover in the offensive zone near the left point and then dished the puck to Chmelevski near the top of the left circle for a shot. Going to the net, Chmelevski netted his own rebound for the fourth USA tally. 

With just 58 seconds on the clock, Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) cycled the puck up to the left point for Tommy Miller (West Bloomfield, Mich.), who skated down the wall to the outside of the circle and found Reedy in the slot. Reedy outwaited the Czech goaltender for his second marker of the evening.

The Czech Republic notched its lone goal 4:27 into the final frame. Throughout the third period, the teams traded chances but USA notched the game’s seventh marker for the 6-1 final score when Tortora passed through the slot to Miller racing up the right wing.

St. Cyr stood tall in net, making timely saves and finishing the contest with 26 saves on 27 shots. 

The U.S. National Under-17 Team is back in action tomorrow (Nov. 2) afternoon against Canada White. Puck drop is slated for 4:30 p.m. ET. Live stats and streaming can be found here.

Notes

Six skaters picked up two points each (Chmelevski, Hughes, Miller, Mismash, Reedy, Tortora) … Team USA was 6-for-6 on the penalty kill during tonight’s contest … The U.S. outshot the Czech Republic 39-27 … Earlier today, Team USA’s next opponent, Canada White, came from behind to beat Canada Black, 5-3 … The 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge includes two groups of four teams. Group A features Canada Black, Canada White, the Czech Republic and the United States, while Group B includes Canada Red, Finland, Russia and Sweden ... Follow @USAHockeyNTDP and @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for tournament updates and join the conversation on social media, using #WU17USA.

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