Jake Pivonka (Woodridge, Ill.) scored the game's only goal late in the third period and goaltender Erik Gordon (Duluth, Ga.) stopped all 31 shots he faced to earn the U.S. National Under-17 Team a 1-0 win against the Youngstown Phantoms here tonight at USA Hockey Arena.

The teams played to a scoreless first period, with the U.S. killing off a four-minute penalty in the opening minutes after being whistled for high sticking.

The Phantoms outshot Team USA, 15-6, in the second frame and each team received three power plays, but the neither team found its way onto the scoreboard heading into the final period.

Five minutes into the third, Youngstown's Max Ellis took off on a breakaway opportunity, but Erik Gordon (Duluth, Ga.) made the blocker-side save to keep it scoreless.

With 5:08 to play, Pivonka chased a rebounded puck into the left corner and sent the puck toward Youngstown's net from below the goal line. His shot trickled in beneath goaltender Ivan Kulbakov's pads for the only marker of the game.

Jake Goldowski (Thornhurst, Pa.) and Mattias Samuelsson (Voorhees, N.J.) picked up assists on the play after creating the initial rush.

1. USA - E. Gordon
2. USA - J. Pivonka
3. YNG - I. Kulbakov