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Photo by Rena Laverty
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) scored with 2:37 to play in regulation to break the game's fourth tie and give the U.S. National Under-18 Team a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Ferris State Bulldogs Saturday night at Ewigleben Ice Arena.
Late in regulation, Cole McKinney (Lake Forest, Ill.) drove the right wing and centered a feed that Gallant somehow got a stick on in the crease and snuck it in for a 4-3 lead with less than three minutes to play that the U18s would not relinquish.
The U18s were awarded an early power play, but it was actually the Bulldogs who tallied first while shorthanded. Cole Burtch ran a two-on-one and chose to shoot as he fired past Joey Slavick (Westland, Mich.) for an early 1-0 lead for the home team.
Team USA evened the score on the same power-play opportunity with Mikey Berchild's (Minnetonka, Minn.) first goal as a member of the U18s. LJ Mooney (West Mifflin, Pa.) made a nice play along the blue line and found Will Moore (Ithaca, N.Y.) along the left-wing boards. He one-touched it to Berchild in the bumper position, who blasted a one-timer to tie the game at 1-1.
Burtch added his second of the night prior to the five-minute mark of the period, getting a pass in the slot and slapping one in to put the Bulldogs back on top.
Moore brought the game back to even again early in the middle frame. Drew Schock (Green Bay, Wis.) sent a lengthy outlet to the forward, who charged towards the net and finished with a backhand through the five-hole of Martin Lundberg. Slavick started the quick transition for a rare goalie assist.
The U18s took their first lead of the night just over a minute into the third period, converting off a Ferris State defensive-zone turnover. McKinney poked a clearing attempt to Jack Murtagh (East Greenbush, N.Y.), who deked and slid one past Lundberg to make it a 3-2 contest.
The Bulldogs' Jack Silich tied the game once more just 50 seconds later, converting on the backhand at a terrible angle in front of the cage.
Late in regulation, Gallant connected for the game-winner off help from McKinney and Charlie Trethewey (Woodbine, Md.).
Slavick finished his night with 35 saves, a number he's hit in each of his last three outings, as he collected his fourth win of the season for Team USA.
The U18s return home to USA Hockey Arena for a pair of games against the Tri-City Storm next weekend. Both Friday and Saturday puck drops are set for 7:00 p.m. ET and tickets are available at USAHockeyNTDP.com/tix or by calling the box office at 734-453-8400.