SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.) picked up two goals and two assists for a team-high four points to best big brother, Brady and the Augustana Vikings, as the U.S. National Under-18 Team won 8-3 Friday night at Midco Arena in South Dakota. 

Stiga used a mirror image of the first score to bang home a one-timer and extend the lead to 2-0 at 14:37. Again, it was the entire line combining on the score as Ziemer forced a turnover and dropped the puck to Hagens, who found Stiga for his 26th bingo of the season.

Shane Vansaghi (St. Louis, Mo.) ended a 17-game goal drought with a an absolute snipe in the top right corner to run the score to 3-0 with less than three minutes to play in the period. He was helped out by Austin Baker (White Lake, Mich.) who picked up a helper.

Less than a minute later, Hagens put his name in the goal column as the trio of linemates combined on their third goal of the period. Ziemer fed Stiga, who went tic-tac-toe to Hagens inside of the right hashes for a 4-0 advantage after 20 minutes.

Ziemer wasted no time in the middle period, netting his second of the evening less than a minute into the second. He took the puck coast-to-coast before ripping a bar-down wrister short-side for his 22nd marker of the season. 

Shortly after, while a man-up, Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) was the recipient of a beautiful spinning no-look pass from Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) to make it six straight for the visitors. Kamil Bednarik (Chicago, Ill.) added an assist on Eiserman's 44th score of the campaign. 

After Team USA went on another power play, Christian Humphreys (Pittsburgh, Pa.) took advantage with a lethal writer from the center point that got by a screened Josh Kotai to make it 7-0 for the U18s. Baker and Sam Laurila (Moorhead, Minn.) were credited with helpers on the team's second PPG of the night. 

Augustana's Owen Bohn put the collegians on the board early in the third period, converting off a pretty passing sequence to squeeze one past Caleb Heil (Victoria, Minn.), who had entered the game in relief in the second period. 

Plante responded with a shorthanded marker off a perfect set-up from Bednarik on a 2-on-1 rush.

Vikings forward Chase Brand netted a power-play tally moments later and captain Arnaud Vachon lit the lamp with less than a second remaining for the 8-3 final. 

USA starter Nick Kempf (Chicago, Ill.) turned aside all 11 shots he saw in the first half of the game to pick up his 15th win of the season and extend his record to 15-6-0-1. Heil made 23 stops in his Team USA debut. 

The two sides will square off in a rematch tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. ET in the final game of the 2023-24 Kroger College Series from Midco Arena in Sioux Falls.