U18s Win Third Straight, Take Down Phantoms, 5-4

USA Hockey National Team Development Program

U18s Win Third Straight, Take Down Phantoms, 5-4

By USA Hockey's NTDP, 01/28/26, 12:45PM EST

Trio of players have multi-point afternoon

Photo by Rena Laverty

PLYMOUTH, Mich. - The U.S. National Under-18 Team used a three-goal second period to lift itself over the Youngstown Phantoms, 5-4, this afternoon from USA Hockey Arena.

AJ Francisco (Hermantown, Minn.) got the scoring started at 10:37 of the first on the power play. The team worked the puck around the offensive zone as Wyatt Cullen (Moorhead, Minn.) corralled the puck at the blue line, fed Francisco across and fired it past starting Youngstown netminder Tobias Trejbal.

Box Score

Highlights

Youngstown answered 3:33 later with a power-play goal of its own. The Phantoms went ahead before the teams headed into the locker room and made it 2-1 at 18:43.

The Phantoms opened the middle frame with a tally to go up a pair, but Casey Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) responded at 2:22 on the power play. A loose puck at the blue line was picked up by Jamie Glance (Stratham, N.H.) and dished one out to Mutryn alongside before he found twine.

Team USA kept rolling and tied things up at 8:12 off the tape of Dayne Beuker (Portland, Ore.). After he received a stretch pass from Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Twp., Mich.), Beuker rushed into the zone and fired it past Trejbal to make it even.

Lukas Zajic (Plainfield, Ill.) gave the U.S. its first lead since the opening frame with a goal at 11:07. AJ Garcia (Romeoville, Ill.) made a touch pass to Zajic after a Youngstown turnover as all Zajic had to beat was Trejbal on the breakaway and did to make it 4-3.

The teams battled back-and-forth in the final period as the score remained 4-3 throughout. Trejbal left his net with ticks under 2:00 to go for one last push but Garcia tallied his first goal of the game, and second point of the afternoon, and fired one into the empty net at 19:33.

Youngstown tallied with :03 seconds to go to make it a one-score game, but the effort fell short as Team USA won, 5-4.

Brady Knowling (Chicago, Ill.) started in net for Team USA and stopped 24 shots.

Team USA returns to the ice Friday (Jan. 30) as it'll host the Muskegon Lumberjacks inside USA Hockey Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and the first 1,000 fans in the arena will receive a limited-edition Jack Eichel USA bobblehead. Tickets are available at USAHockeyNTDP.com/tix or by calling the box office at 734-453-8400.