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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - LJ Mooney (West Mifflin, Pa.) recorded a multi-point evening to give him six points in his last six games and help lead the the U.S. National Under-18 Team to a point, but Team USA fell to the Youngstown Phantoms, 5-4 in a shootout, Friday night at the Covelli Centre in Ohio.
Youngstown took advantage of a Team USA defensive-zone turnover to take a 1-0 lead on its first shot of the game at 1:38 of the first, courtesy of Landan Resendes.
Team USA responded in short order by creating an opportunity off a forced turnover of their own. Cole McKinney (Lake Forest, Ill.) collected the loose puck at his defensive blue line, drove the length of the ice and fired short side for to even the score with his 10th goal of the season.
The home side retook the lead just past the midway mark of the period as Kazimier Sobieski fired a point shot through a screened Patrick Quinlan (Kennett Square, Pa.) to give Youngstown a 2-1 lead.
Mooney brought the game back square before the close of the period with his second marker of the campaign. Mooney stole an errant Phantoms pass, drove the left wing and after his first shot was stopped, connected on the rebound chance to make it a 2-2 contest after 20 minutes.
The U18s took their first lead of the evening at 3:39 of the middle frame. Will Moore (Ithaca, N.Y.) flipped a pass to Mooney in the slot and he sent it along to Donny Bracco (Freeport, N.Y.) at the left circle. The defenseman skated closer to the goal line and ripped a hard-angled shot by Owen Lepak to put Team USA ahead. After not scoring for the first 34 games of the season, the goal was Bracco's second in his past three games and fifth total point over that stretch.
Youngstown made it 3-3 off a Brecken Smith shorthanded tally, but the U18s responded with a man-down marker of their own late in the period to regain the lead after two frames. Landon Hafele (Fairbanks, Alaska) won a puck battle behind the Youngstown cage and centered it to Andrew O'Neill (Fargo, N.D.) in the slot. He took the pass and ripped one over the blocker of Lepak to push the U.S. ahead by a 4-3 margin.
The Phantoms thought they scored early in the third, but U18 defenseman Maceo Phillips (Wayzata, Minn.) made a tremendous play to sweep a puck off the goal line and keep it out of the net.
Youngstown did eventually tie the game at 7:14 as captain Coleson Hanrahan was the recipient of a lucky bounce after a shot was fired wide and he potted into an open cage for a 4-4 score.
Quinlan kept Team USA in the game with an absolute robbery of Adam Benak's one-timer with just under five minutes to play in regulation that helped push the game to extra time.
The U18s registered the only pair of shots in the five-minute overtime period, but could not light the lamp as the game went to the skills competition.
Youngstown netted the only goal of the shootout as they took the winner's point.
Quinlan finished with 17 saves, including multiple highlight-reel stops, to keep USA in the game throughout the night.
The two sides are back in action tomorrow night for the rematch. Puck drop is set for 6:05 p.m. from Covelli Centre in Ohio.