U18s Return To Kroger College Series, Drop to BU 7-5

USA Hockey National Team Development Program

U18s Return To Kroger College Series, Drop to BU 7-5

By USA Hockey's NTDP, 12/13/24, 9:15PM EST

McKinney extends point streak to six for Team USA

Photos by Matt Woolverton

BOSTON, Mass. - Five players recorded multiple points for the U.S. National Under-18 Team, but Team USA fell to Boston University, 7-5, in Kroger College Series action Friday night at Agganis Arena.

The Terriers converted on their first shot of the evening as Matt Copponi redirected a Shane Lachance attempt through the legs of Harrison Boettiger (Wheat Ridge, Colo.) 75 seconds into the game.

Just past the halfway mark, BU doubled the lead as Quinn Hutson converted quickly off a Team USA defensive-zone turnover.

BU 7, U18s 5 - Box Score

Jake Stuart (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) put Team USA on the board with 6:31 to play in the first. From behind the net, Jacob Kvasnicka (Wayzata, Minn.) centered to Stuart, who niftly put it on his backhand and up and over Max Lacroix to cut the lead in half. Maceo Phillips (Wayzata, Minn.) started the play to give him points in back-to-back games.

The line combined again early in the middle frame to bring the game back to even at 2-2. While falling to the ice along the right-wing boards, Kvasnicka found Stuart attacking the net. He left a perfect drop-pass for Will Horcoff (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), who fired into the open net to tie the game.

Boston University responded by grabbing two goals in less than two minutes later in the period. Tristan Amonte was the third man in for the Terriers and fired one past Boettiger to put the home team back on top. Shortly after, NTDP alum Kamil Bednarik redirected a shot over the netminder's shoulder to make it a 4-2 contest.

After Alex Zetterberg made it 5-2 in favor of BU, U18 forward Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.), the only Massachusetts native on the team, got one back late in the middle stanza. Drew Schock's (Green Bay, Wis.) initial shot was kicked aside, but Jack Murtagh (East Greenbush, N.Y.) grabbed the rebound and found Gallant in the slot, where he connected for his 10th goal of the campaign.

The Terriers added two in the first half of the third period before Gallant added his second of the night with a little less than eight minutes to play. Cole McKinney (Lake Forest, Ill.) found Gallant in the crease, who potted to bring the game to 7-4. The assist extended McKinney's point streak to six straight games, a career long at the NTDP.

Will Moore (Ithaca, N.Y.) found the back of the net with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation for the game's 7-5 final.

The U18s stay out east for tomorrow night's contest at the University of New Hampshire. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m. from Whittemore Events Center in Durham, N.H., and the game will livestream on ESPN+.