DREW-S-A: Drew Fortescue (Pearl River, N.Y.) scored his second goal of the season in as many weekends on Sunday afternoon against the conference-leading Chicago Steel. 

Down by one after the first two periods of play, Fortescue was quick to tie the game at one apiece just a minute into the second. He nabbed Charlie Cerrato’s (Fallston, Md.) rebound in the slot and buried it to make the game 1-1. 

Fortescue also extended his point streak to four games, collecting two assists in each game against the Muskegon Lumberjacks to make it 16 points on his season.   

POWERED BY SAWCHYN: Gracyn Sawchyn (Chaska, Minn.) had himself a point-per-game weekend, notching three assists over the U17s’ matchups vs. Muskegon and Chicago. 

He collected an assist on the tying goal against the Steel, which sent the game to OT. Sawchyn’s shot was tapped in by Beckett Hendrickson (Minnetonka, Minn.) to make the game 2-2 late in the third and earn the U17s a point in the standings. 

Sawchyn also recorded two assists against the Lumberjacks in their Friday evening game to make it three points in as many games. 

FIRST FOR FORTESCUE: Drew Fortescue (Pearl River, N.Y.) netted his first goal for Team USA in the second period of Saturday’s game. He collected a pass from Kaden Muir (Manchester, N.H.) and fired from above the left faceoff circle to bury the puck in the top corner of the net.

FIVE IN FOURTEEN: Alex Weiermair (Los Angeles, Calif.) notched his 14th goal of the season against the Muskegon Lumberjacks on Friday evening. Assisted by Will Vote (Arlington, Mass.) and Sawchyn, Weiermair netted the rebound on the backhand in the first period. Weiermair ranks fifth in all goals scored for the Under-17 Team. 

RECORDS RACE: Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) and Lane Hutson (North Barrington, Ill.)  continue to climb the all-time NTDP record book with their performances in the pre-tournament games ahead of the 2022 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship. 

With a one-timer against Sweden in the second period of the game, Howard passed Trevor Zegras to take sole possession of 10th on the career points list with 149. The UMD commit also passed Auston Matthews, Patrick Kane, and J.D. Forrest for the sixth overall spot in the program’s all-time career assists list, with 90. 

Hutson, who collected the primary assist on Howard’s goal, moved into the top-five all time points list for defenseman. Passing Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, Hutson’s 87 career points earned him the fourth overall spot among NTDP defenseman. Hutson’s 54th point of the season additionally secured him third for single-season points by a defenseman, passing Quinn Hughes. 

WORLDS IS CALLING: The U.S. National Under-18 Team is set to begin competition this Saturday, April 23 in their opening game of the tournament against Canada. Puck drop is set for 1:30 p.m. ET and can be streamed live on ESPN+.

The remainder of their schedule was also released along with the times for the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal rounds as well. 

Team USA will face Czechia on Sunday, April 24 at 9:30 a.m. ET before closing out the preliminary round with a matchup with Germany at 1:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 24.

All the action for the rest of the tournament can be found on NHL Network.

NATTY CHAMPS: Two weekends ago, the Univeristy of Denver Men's Hockey Team was named the 2022 Nationa Champions after defeating Minnesota State University, 5-1, in the Frozen Four Finals. 

In their rookie season, NTDP alums Sean Beherns (2019-21) and Jack Devine (2019-21) helped lead the Pioneers to their ninth NCAA title. 

Behrens, a 2021 second-round draft pick to the Colorado Avalanche, finished the season with 29 points (3g, 26a) as a top-line defenseman for the Pioneers. 

Devine, a 2022 draft eligible forward, recorded 19 points (3g, 16a) in his freshman year, including an assist on the game-tying goal in the Frozen Four championship game.

The NTDP had nine others alum who also made an appearance in TD Garden for the 2022 Frozen Four. Brock Faber (2018-20) and Chaz Lucius (2019-21) helped bring the University of Minnesota to their 22nd Frozen Four appearance.

The University of Michigan made its way to the Frozen Four for the 26th time in program history. The Wolverines were highlighted by seven NTDP alumni, including Johnny Beecher (2017-19), Matty Beniers (2018-20), Thomas Bordeleau (2018-20), Dylan Duke (2019-21), Luke Hughes (2019-21), Michael Pastujov (2015-17) and Jacob Truscott (2018-20)