December 26, 2003

U.S. National Junior Team Opens With 8-0 Shutout Over Austria At 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship

HAMEENLINNA, Finland -- The United States National Junior Team defeated Austria, 8-0, to begin play in the Preliminary Round of the 2004 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship here this evening. Fellow alternate captains Zach Parise (Faribault, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) and Patrick Eaves (Faribault, Minn./Boston College) combined to score seven points in the game, including Parise's hat trick. Eaves, who was named the team's top player in the game, registered a goal and added two assists.

Team USA next faces Slovakia on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 8 a.m. EST in the Pool A Preliminary Round. In this venue's afternoon game, the Slovaks held Russia to a 2-2 tie.

Team USA, which outshot Austria 61-15, opened the scoring early in the first period, with defenseman James Wisniewski (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Whalers) providing all the offense the U.S. would need, with a power-play goal at 2:09. Parise, who had drawn the penalty that resulted in the man-up situation, found Wisniewski sliding down from the point and a one-timer past Austrian goaltender Mathias Lange made the score 1-0.

U.S. forward Brett Sterling (Pasedena, Calif./Colorado College) scored his first of two goals at the 8:12 mark. After Lange couldn't control Mark Stuart's (Rochester, Minn./Colorado College) point shot, Sterling hopped on the rebound to give the U.S. a two-goal lead.

In the second period, Team USA took advantage on the power play, scoring at 10:49 and 11:05 of the period, as Austria was penalized for too many men on the ice with 1:10 remaining in a tripping call. Dan Richmond (Lake Zurich, Ill./London Knights) misfired on a slap shot that went to Lange's left, where Parise scored his first of three. A second fortunate bounce resulted in a goal by Ryan Kesler (Livonia, Mich./Manitoba Moose), who took advantage of a Wisniewski slap shot that missed the net and bounced to a spot in a scrum, where Kesler put the puck behind Lange for a 4-0 advantage.

Team USA also scored a shorthanded goal in the period, at 14:46, when Eaves' forechecking led to a turnover, which he followed by splitting the defense and eventually pushing a fifth goal past Lange. Parise's third-period goals completed his hat trick, while Sterling closed out the scoring at 14:14.

Austria was not without its chances, however, including the University of Minnesota's Tomas Vanek twice drawing iron on hard shots, but Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill./Univ. of Michigan) recorded his first shutout of the tournament after making 15 saves.

In Pool B action from Helsinki, the Czech Republic downed the Ukraine, 8-0, while Canada defeated host Finland, 3-0, in the evening game.

GAME SUMMARY

United States 2 - 3 - 3 -- 8
Austria 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0

First Period: Scoring: 1, USA, Wisniewski (Parise), 2:09. 2, USA, Sterling (Stuart), 8:12. Penalties: Latusa, AUT (hooking), 0:35; Dowell, USA (hooking), 3:29; Likens, USA (holding), 9:54; Quantschnig, AUT (tripping), 14:45.

Second Period: Scoring: 3, USA, Parise (Richmond, Eaves), 10:49 (pp). 4, USA, Kesler (Eaves, Montoya), 11:05 (pp). 5, USA, Eaves (Likens), 14:46 (sh). Penalties: Petrik, AUT (holding), 5:45; O'Sullivan, USA (interference), 6:26; Suter, USA (tripping), 8:24; Oraze, AUT (tripping), 9:28; Teppert, AUT (too many men), 10:18; Booth, USA (roughing), 11:54; Stuart, USA (cross checking), 14:05.

Third Period: Scoring: 6, USA, Parise (Fritsche), 8:55. 7, USA, Parise (Wisniewski), 12:17 (pp). 8, USA, Sterling (Stuart), 14:14. Penalties: O'Sullivan, USA (tripping), 1:50; O'Sullivan, USA (high sticking), 4:58; Fritsche, USA (holding), 6:17; Latusa, AUT (interference), 6:23; Kirisits, AUT (interference), 10:18.

Shots: AUT: 5 - 5 - 5 -- 15. USA: 18 - 18 - 25 -- 61

Goaltenders: AUT: Lange (61 shots, 53 saves). USA: Montoya (15 shots, 15 saves).

Referee: Sergej Karabanon. Linesmen: Stanislav Barvir, Derek Doucette.