The U.S. National Under-18 Team skated to a 4-2 victory against the Green Bay Gamblers Saturday night at USA Hockey Arena.

The victory was fueled by the forward line of Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill.), Josh Norris (Oxford, Mich.) and Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.), who accounted for two points each. 

With the victory, the U18s improve to 19-6-2 on the season. 

Midway through the first period, Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) found the back of the net at the 11:47 mark only to have the goal called off. The referee deemed Michael Pastujov’s (Bradenton, Fla.) pass to Barratt had been made with his hand.

However, the U18s bounced back quickly at the 9:08 mark of the first period on a wrister from Quinn Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) from the right circle. Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.) and Phil Kemp (Greenwich, Conn.) picked up assists on the play.

With just over two minutes left in the period Tommy Miller (West Bloomfield, Mich.) nearly added a power play goal that ringed off the crossbar.

Green Bay’s Josh Kosack tied the game at one on a breakaway at the 2:29 mark of the second period.

Dhooghe helped the U18s regain the lead when he buried a rebound from Tkachuk's initial shot at the 4:24 mark of the second period. Norris also assisted on the goal.

After the Gamblers tied the game at two, Norris, Dhooghe and Tkachuk all picked up their second points of the night, and again gave the U18s the lead. Norris tapped in a cross-crease pass from Dhooghe at the 18:21 mark of the second period. Tkachuk picked up the secondary assist on the play.

Jacob Tortora (Victor, N.Y.) skated around three Gamblers to the net to seal the game, 4-2, for the U18s at the 9:16 mark of the third period.

Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.) ended the game with 32 saves, while Green Bay goaltender, Maksim Zhukov ended the night with 35 saves.

The U18s are back in action on Friday, Jan. 20 when they travel to Cedar Rapids for a matchup with the Roughriders at 8:05 p.m. ET. They return to USA Hockey Arena on Friday, Jan. 27 to host the Tri-City Storm at 7 p.m. ET for Teacher Appreciation Night. Tickets are available at USAHockeyArena.com.

1.) Sean Dhooghe (F) - USA

2.) Josh Norris (F) - USA

3.) Dylan St. Cyr (G) - USA