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Photo by Rena Laverty
Cranberry Township, Pa. -Michael Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.) scored his first goal of the season in the National Team Development Program Under-18 Team's 4-3 loss to the Youngstown Phantoms on Saturday night at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
After falling behind early in the first period, Pastujov opened up the scoring for Team USA on the evening when he fired a one-time shot on the power play after receiving a cross-ice feed from Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.). Phil Kemp (Greenwich, Conn.) also picked up his first assist of the season after feeding Tkachuk a pass from the point.
Youngstown added another goal late in the first period to head into the first intermission with a one goal lead. Following a scoreless second period, Team USA gained the lead on two goals midway through the third period.
The first goal came from Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill.) who added his second tally of the season after receiving a pass from Graham Slaggert (South Bend, Ind.) at the 8:49 mark. Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.) gave Team USA the lead just three minutes later. Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Josh Norris (Oxford, Mich.) picked up assists on the play.
The NTDP could not hold on to the lead down the stretch as Youngstown tied the game at three just one minute following the Mismash goal and took the lead at the 14:44 mark on a goal by Tommy Apap.
Adam Scheel (Lakewood, Ohio) started his second game of the season in goal for Team USA. He made 21 saves on 25 shots. He is now 0-2-0 on the season.
The NTDP U18 team is back in action on Saturday night when they make their regular season home opener against the Youngstown Phantoms at 7 p.m. at USA Hockey Arena.