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LINCOLN, Neb. - Thirteen different players recorded at least one point to help propel the U.S. National Under-18 Team to a 11-3 downing over the Lincoln Stars tonight at the Lincoln Ice Box. These same two squads will square off in a rematch tomorrow night.
Tage Thompson (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) put the U.S. on the board early when he crashed the net and shoveled home a rebound from the left side of the crease. Team USA doubled its lead with just over a minute remaining in the period when Colin White (Hanover, Mass.) blasted a one-timer just inside the far post.
The U18s extended the lead to 5-0 in the middle frame thanks to goals by Christian Fischer (Wayne, Ill.), Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) and Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Fischer scored on a delayed penalty call at 8:15 with assists coming from Tkachuk and Jack Roslovic (Columbus, Ohio). Tkachuk made it 4-0 when he completed a give-and-go with Roslovic and finished the play by squeezing a shot just inside the near post. Matthews had the secondary helper. Then, at 17:58, Matthews took a pass as he entered the zone, made a pretty move around a Lincoln defender and sent a backhander into the top corner of the cage. The Stars managed to score late in the stanza to make it 5-1 after 40 minutes.
Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.) joined the scoring parade 1:49 into the final stanza. Steven Ruggiero (Kings Park, N.Y.) and Fischer collected helpers on the goal. Lincoln pushed back, netting back-to-back markers 53 second apart to close the gap, now 6-3. But Team USA responded with five unanswered tallies for a resounding 11-3 victory.
Matthews, Jordan Greenway (Potsdam, N.Y.) and Fischer had single goals in the five-goal barrage while Jeremy Bracco (Freeport, N.Y.) netted a pair.
Goaltender Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) was in net for the U.S., turning aside 14 shots in the victory.
The U.S. National Under-18 Team plays its last United States Hockey League road game tomorrow night versus Lincoln. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET at the Lincoln Ice Box and can be seen via streaming video at FASTHockey.com.
Team USA outshot Lincoln, 38-17 ... The U.S. went 1-4 with the man advantage while the Stars went 1-3 ... The 11 goals scored by the Under-18 Team are the most by any one team in the USHL this season ... Auston Matthews is registering nearly two points (1.95) per game in the USHL. Four other players: Jack Roslovic (1.50), Jeremy Bracco (1.29), Matthew Tkachuk (1.29) and Christian Fischer (1.23) are above one point per game ... Tkachuk extended his USHL point streak to 10 games with a two-point night versus Lincoln. The forward now has 18 points (9-9) over that span ... Matthews is riding his own 10-game point streak (9-13) dating back to Feb. 20. The forward has been held without a point just twice in 21 USHL games ... Roslovic has compiled a six-game point streak that includes four goals and eight helpers. Over the last 10 USHL outings, the forward has 20 points (7-13) ... Charles McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y) has assists in five straight contests ... The U18s have now outshot USHL opponents in 17 of 22 contests, including 13 straight ... Team USA has averaged 37.0 shots for per game while allowing 24.2 shots against in its previous five tilts.