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Under-17 Team Defeats Sweden, 5-2, at Five Nations

By USA Hockey's NTDP, 02/12/16, 10:45PM EST

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Sean Dhooghe and Vanya Lodnia Each Tally Two Markers in the Victory


PLYMOUTH, Mich.Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill.) and Vanya Lodnia (Novi, Mich.) each tallied two markers as the U.S. National Under-17 Team defeated Sweden, 5-2, here tonight at USA Hockey Arena. USA improves to 2-0-1-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and will face Russia tomorrow in a contest that will determine the 2016 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament champion.

Sweden opened the scoring just 3:16 into the first frame but the U.S. responded just 35 seconds later when Lodnia snapped a shot past Sweden’s Olle Eriksson Ek, knotting the game at one. Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) and Phil Kemp (Greenwich, Conn.) assisted on the play. Near the midway point of the period, Dhooghe chipped a shot from the bottom of the left circle for the go-ahead marker to close the period 2-1 in USA’s favor. Nate Knoepke (Farmington, Minn.) and Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) collected helpers.

At 2:28 of the middle period, Lodnia sent his second score of the game top shelf, allowing the United States to carry a 3-1 lead into the third stanza. Barratt registered his second assist on Lodnia's goal. U.S. goalie Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.) stopped all 10 Swedish shots in the second period to help preserve the advantage heading into the final frame.

Dhooghe pushed the USA lead to three goals when he scored at 5:31. Reedy recorded his second helper on the score. A shorthanded marker by Sweden cut the U.S. lead in half, but Reedy sealed the victory with a goal, his third point of the night, in the closing minutes of the contest for the 5-2 final score. Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.) collected the lone assist.

St. Cyr stopped 19 total shots in the win for Team USA, while Eriksson Ek made 41 saves in the loss for Sweden.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team closes tournament play at 7 p.m. ET tomorrow against Russia. The contest will decide the 2016 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament champion. The game will stream live on FASTHockey.com.

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Finland Comes Back in Shootout Win over Czech Republic

PLYMOUTH, Mich. - Finland outlasts the Czech Republic with a 3-2 shootout victory this afternoon at USA Hockey Arena at the 2016 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament. Finland completes its portion of the tournament with a 2-1-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record, while the Czech Republic moves to 0-1-1-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) with one game remaining in the round-robin event.

The first period was a defensive battle until the Czech Republic’s Matyas Svoboda zipped up the right wing, past the defense, and slipped the puck behind Finnish goaltender Ukko Pekka Luukkonen for the 1-0 lead. Ostap Safin and Jan Kern were awarded assists on the marker. A few minutes later, a bouncing puck from Marek Skvrne would beat Luukkonen to give the Czechs a two-goal advantage near the end of the frame. Ondrej Machala and Daniel Bukac recorded assists on the goal.

The Czech Republic got on the board when Santeri Aalto found the back of the net just 4:50 into the middle period. Aleksi Heponiemi and Juho Korhonen were credited with assists. The period ended 2-1 in the Finn’s favor.

The final period was a defensive showing with both goaltenders keeping the puck out of the net until Finland’s Linus Nyman beat Czech goalie Jakub Skarek with just 1:38 to play, tying the game at two and sending the contest to overtime.

Finland outshot the Czech Republic 3-0 in the extra session, but the game would remain tied. In the shootout, Finland’s Joni Ikonen helped complete the comeback, scoring twice, including the game-winning tally in the sixth round.

The Czechs face Sweden tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET in a bid for third place. Tomorrow evening's tilt between the United States and Russia will determine the tournament victor. Both games will stream live on FASTHockey.com.