Madison took an early 1-0 lead at the 5:11 mark of the opening period. With traffic in front of the USA goalie, defenseman Colton Jamieson put the puck into the net from the blueline.

The U18s tied the game at 1, with a power-play goal, at the 7:29 mark. Donny Bracco (Freeport, N.Y.) took a pass from Cole McKinney (Lake Forest, Ill.) in the right circle and shot the puck past the Capitols goalie. It was Bracco’s fifth goal of the year.

The Capitols capitalized with two power-play markers - Ryker Lee (15:05) and Diego Johnson (15:12) - during a 5-minute major on Team USA to take a 3-1 lead heading into the intermission.

The U18s answered back, just 1:12 into the second period. McKinney cut the deficit to 3-2 as he picked up a loose puck in center ice, carried it into the zone and ripped a shot past the goalie. It marked his 21st goal of the season.

The Capitols reclaimed their 2-goal lead, 4-2, just 1:53 into the third period on a goal by Johnson. It was his second of the game. Finn Brink tallied an empty-net goal at 18:08 to close out the scoring.

Patrick Quinlan (Kennett Square, Pa.) finished with 20 saves between the pipes.

The U18s continue their homestand facing the Chicago Steel next weekend (March 21-22) at USA Hockey Arena. Face-off is set for 7pm ET both nights. Tickets are available at USAHockeyNTDP.com/tix or by calling the box office at 734-453-8400.