The U17s took at early 1-0 lead on a goal by Logan Stuart (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) at 2:35 of the opening period. Stuart took a pass from Jamie Glance (Stratham, N.H.) and put a shot on net and then, followed the rebound for his 10th goal of the season. JP Hurlbert (Allen, Texas) picked up the other assist on the goal.

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The Steel scored five unanswered goals to take a 5-1 lead after the opening stanza. Chris Reiniger opened the scoring for the Steel at 5:31 before a rebound goal by Blake Vanek at 11:10 made it 2-1. Cameron Briere (16:00), Adam Valenti (16:29) and Ashton Schultz (17:34) also tallied goals for the Steel.

Landon Hafele (Fairbanks, Alaska) helped the U17s pull to 5-2 with a goal at 3:44 of the second period. Andrew O’Neill (Fargo, N.D.) won the face-off and sent the puck over to Hafele who beat the Steel and former NTDP goalie Jack Parson on the glove side.

With 9:01 to go in the second period, the Steel answered back with a goal by Vanek to make it 6-2. Vanek took a pass from Noah LaPointe and slid the puck past the USA netminder for his second goal of the game. Luke Goukler tallied a goal at 13:56 to close out the Steel second-period goals.

Chicago scored four third-period goals to make the final score, 11-2. Just 57 seconds into the third period, Hudson Gorski added the eighth goal before a goal by Arseni Marchenko at 12:59 made it 9-2. Owen Tyle (17:28) scored the 10th goal for the Steel before Vanek completed his hat trick for the final goal at 18:42.

Brady Knowling (Chicago, Ill.) started in net and finished with 14 stops. Luke Carrithers (Maple Grove, Minn.) finished with nine saves in relief.

The U17s will head out on the road for three straight games, including a pair at Cedar Rapids (March 28 and 29) and at Green Bay (March 30). All three games can be seen on FloHockey.