BUFFALO, New York – Three players scored and Brittany Bugalski (Lake Worth, Fla./Assabet Valley) made eight saves to help the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team shut out Czech Republic, 3-0, in preliminary round action tonight at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women’s World Championship.

“I was really pleased with our effort and I thought we played very well tonight,” said Joel Johnson, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team. “The Czech Republic had a good game plan against us and their goalie played well.” 

Alex Woken (Fargo, N.D./Shattuck St. Mary’s) opened the scoring 3:34 into the game when Mekenzie Steffen’s (White Bear Township, Minn./Hill Murray) breakout pass sent Woken in on goal alone and she fired a wrist shot by Czech Republic goaltender, Katerina Zechovka.

With three seconds left in the second stanza, Team USA nearly doubled its lead when Grace Bizal’s (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins High School) spin-around pass from the right circle found Patricia Marshall (Thief River Falls, Minn./Shattuck St. Mary’s) alone in the slot for a shot that was denied by Zechovka. 

After a pair of shorthanded attempts, Team USA made it 2-0 with 11:59 left to play when Samantha Davis’ (Pembroke, Mass./Tabor Academy) pass from the corner found Caitrin Lonergan (Roslindale, Mass./Assabet Valley) in front of the net for her first goal of the tournament. With 24 seconds left in regulation Melissa Samoskevich (Sandy Hook, Conn./Shattuck St. Mary’s) picked off a clearing attempt and fired a shot past Zechovka to give the U.S. the 3-0 victory.

Team USA closes preliminary-round action Thursday (Jan. 8) against Russia. Puck drop is 7 p.m. ET, and the game can be seen live on FASTHockey.com. 

Notes: Caitrin Lonergan was named the U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Czech Republic 34-8 … The U.S. has won 10 straight games against the Czech Republic, outscoring them 105-3 over those games … Team USA is first in Group A with five points … For complete Team USA coverage visit www.usawomenshockey.com … Follow @USAHockeyScores for in-game updates.  Join the U.S. Under-18 Women’s World Championship conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #U18WWC.