CRIMMITSCHAU, GERMANY — The U.S. Under-17 Select Team topped Slovakia, 6-2, in its opening match of the 2014 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament. Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, Team USA notched six straight goals in the victory. Garrett Wait (Edina, Minn.) tallied two goals. The team named goalie Ryan Edquist (Lakeville, Minn.) the U.S. Player of the Game for his performance, stopping 32 of 34 shots.
“Slovakia came out flying, and we were very fortunate that Ryan Edquist was sharp in goal for us,” said Cary Eades, head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Select Team. “It easily could have been 3-0 or 4-0 after one. Instead, we were only down one, and then we scored twice on the first shift of the second [period] to completely turn the game around.”
The Slovaks had a strong showing in the first period, including a number of power-play opportunities, but not until 17:53 did Slovakia get on the board for the 1-0 lead.
Team USA tied the game 10 seconds into the second period on a goal from William Knierim (Skokie, Ill.) with assists from Wait and Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn.). Wait tallied the go-ahead goal at 1:00 off an Andrew Peeke (Parkland, Fla.) shot.
In a two-on-one situation at 7:56, Tim Gettinger (North Olmsted, Ohio) put Team USA up 3-1 on a great pass from Keenen Suthers (Macomb, Mich.). On another odd-man rush, Mitchell Mattson (Grand Rapids, Minn.) fed Kailer Yamamoto (Spokane, Wash.), who drop-passed to the trailer, Max Gerlach (Flower Mound, Texas), and Gerlach sniped the puck high on the glove side for the 4-1 lead.
Four minutes into the third stanza, the U.S. lengthened its lead with a goal from Suthers. At 9:26, Wait finished a tic-tac-toe play from Knierim and Bellows for Team USA’s last goal and his second of the game.
Slovakia converted on the power play for the final goal of the game and the 6-2 score.
Team USA is back in action Friday (Aug. 15) at 10:15 a.m. ET against Switzerland. Stay tuned to USAHockey.com for Team USA Five Nations coverage. Follow @USAHockeyScores for in-game updates.
First Period—Scoring: 1, SVK, Vaclav (Smida, Martancik), 17:53. Penalties: SVK, Vaclav (charging), 7:27; USA, Wait (charging), 11:53; USA, Gerlach (slashing), 13:03.
Second Period—Scoring: 1, USA, Knierim (Wait, Bellows), 0:10; 2, USA, Wait (Bellows, Peeke), 1:00; 3, USA, Gettinger (Suthers, Mattson), 7:56; 4, USA, Gerlach (Yamamoto, Senden), 11:17. Penalties: SVK, Juriga (tripping), 11:21; USA, Tufte (high-sticking), 18:51.
Third Period—Scoring: 5, USA, Suthers (Mattson, Peeke), 3:54; 6, USA, Wait (Knierim, Bellows), 9:21; 2, SVK, Rudy (Solensky), 12:22. Penalties: USA, Danschke (delay of game), 0:05; USA, Knierim (charging), 5:02; SVK, Fereta (tripping), 12:03; USA, Knierim (checking to the head and neck area), 12:18; USA, Knierim (checking to the head and neck area), 12:22.
Shots by Period | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
USA | 16 | 23 | 10 | 49 |
SVK | 11 | 13 | 10 | 34 |
Goals by Period | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
USA | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
SVK | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Goaltenders | Time | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
Edquist | 60:00 | 10/11 | 13/13 | 9/10 | 32/34 |
Hrenak | 60:00 | 16/16 | 19/23 | 8/10 | 43/49 |
Special Teams | USA | SVK |
Penalties (Penalties/Minutes) | 7/22 | 3/6 |
Power Play (Goals/Chances) | 0/3 | 0/6 |