HOW SWEEP IT IS: The Under-18 Team traveled to Dubuque last weekend and come home with a pair of wins, beating the Fighting Saints by 4-2 and 6-5 finals on Friday and Saturday nights.

Team USA used four unanswered goals and a 30-save performance from Tyler Muszelik (Long Valley, N.J.) to capture the first win. Frank Nazar III (Mount Clemens, Mich.), Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) and Marek Hejduk (Parker, Colo.) all netted second-period tallies while Cole Spicer (Grand Forks, N.D.) added some third-period insurance late in the game.

In Game Two, Team USA once again scored four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes of action. After Dubuque fought back to tie the game in the final period, Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) netted his team-leading 20th marker of the season with just under eight minutes to play to clinch the win for the U18s. 

FIFTEEN APIECE: U18 forward Frank Nazar III (Mount Clemens, Mich.) lit the lamp three times last weekend in Dubuque to pull him into a three-way tie for second place on the team's goals scored list. 

Nazar went short side, top-corner with a quick release on a pass from Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) on Saturday night and followed up with a goal-mouth scramble for his third multi-goal game of the season.

Nazar joined Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska, Minn.) and Rutger McGroarty (Lincoln, Neb.) at the 15-goal plateau, five behind team-leader Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who has scored 20 times. 

DOUBLE DIGITS: Forward Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) was one of six underagers who skated with the Under-18 Team this weekend in Dubuque and he collected a goal scored in each game played to bring his season total to 10. 

The future Boston College Eagle has scored six times in 21 games played with the U17s and has appeared in 10 games with the Under-18 Team, where he has added an additional four scores. 

Leonard joined U17 teammates Oliver Moore (Mounds View, Minn.) and Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.) as the trio of skaters who have reached the double-digit goal mark on the season. 

OFFENSIVELY DEFENSIVE: The U18s got tremendous offensive production from their group of blueliners over the weekend to help lead the team to a pair of wins.

Seamus Powell (Marcellus, N.Y.) led the way with three points over the two games, including a great feed to set up Leonard to tie the game at two goals aside on Friday evening. 

Minnesota commit Ryan Chesley (Mahtomedi, Minn.) added a pair of helpers and four shots on net in Saturday night's win while Lane Hutson (North Barrington, Ill.) picked up an assist in both games to bring his season total to 28 points, tops among all defenseman at the NTDP.

HOME COOKING: The Under-18 Team has seen tremendous success on home ice so far this season, skating to a 9-2-1 record through the team's first dozen games at USA Hockey Arena.

Friday night's game is the first of 11 home games remaining on the schedule for the team, including a five-game homestand from March 19-27, that sees the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, Youngstown Phantoms and Green Bay Gamblers pay trips to Michigan.

PUCKS ON NET: Both NTDP squads have fared quite well when getting more shots on net than their opponents.

The U18s have posted a 15-1-1 record when outshooting their opponent and have a +98 total shot differential on the season.

The Under-17 Team has recorded a 6-1-0 record when getting more pucks on net, collecting six of their 10 wins on the season in such situations.