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Photo by Rena Laverty
PLYMOUTH, Mich. — The U.S. National Under-17 Team rallied from a two-goal deficit but allowed five goals in the third period and fell to the Muskegon Lumberjacks by a 7-2 final Friday night at USA Hockey Arena.
After Muskegon’s Oliver MacDonald and Brock Bremer put the Lumberjacks up by a pair midway through the first period, Luke Tuch (Balswinsville, N.Y.) responded for Team USA early in the second with a short-handed wrister from the left circle.
The U17s tied the game 5 minutes, 19 seconds later when Ty Smilanic (Elizabeth, Colo.) scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Jake Sanderson (Whitefish, Mont.) and Matthew Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) picked up assists on the play.
However, Muskegon answered with a trio of third-period goals scored by Alexandros Gaffney, Bobby Lynch and Danil Gushchin to re-establish a multi-goal lead.
The Lumberjacks put the game away with a pair of late goals to seal off a 7-2 victory.
Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) made 31 stops in net for Team USA.
The U17s will return to action against the Dubuque Fighting Saints at 7 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 27) at USA Hockey Arena. Tickets for all Team USA games can be purchased by visiting the USA Hockey Arena Box Office located at 14900 Beck Road in Plymouth, Michigan, by calling (743) 453-8400 or by visiting USAHockeyNTDP.com/Tix.