Ice Hockey-U.S. Women's Under-18 Select Team Defeats Canada, 3-2

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) scored her second goal of the night with :33 left in the game to lift the U.S. Women's Under-18 Select Team to a 3-2 victory over Canada here tonight in the Women's Under-18 Series at the Olympic Center. With wins in the first two outings of the three-game stand, Team USA will look to complete a sweep over Canada tomorrow at 10 a.m. EDT.

After Canada went up 1-0 in the second period, Team USA scored twice in the middle frame to take a 2-1 lead that lasted until the last minute of the game. The Canadians tied it up at 19:13 and the Americans scored just :14 later to seal the win.

"I was very impressed with our energy level and competitiveness," said Mark Johnson, head coach for Team USA and also the head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. "After we won the first game, Canada came out stronger and more determined and our team responded very well. It was an exciting and entertaining game and I'm happy for our players - it was a hard-fought win."

In a back-and-forth first period, Team USA held the 8-7 shots advantage, while both Corinne Boyles (Wheaton, Ill.) for the United States and Cassie Seguin for Canada held strong in net and kept the score at 0-0 after 20 minutes.

Team Canada broke the scoreless affair at the 4:33 mark of the second frame when Breann Frykas' shot from the right faceoff circle took a bounce off the top of Boyles' stick and landed in the U.S. net. Team USA knotted the score at 1-1 as Madison Packer (Birmingham, Mich.) shoveled in her own rebound in front of the Canadian net at 8:26. Decker closed out second-period scoring to give the United States a 2-1 lead. Skating into Canada's zone on the left side during a power play, she wound up and slapped a shot over Seguin's glove at 10:25.

The United States held on to its one-goal lead much of the way through the final frame, and was able to stave off a minute and a half of a Canadian five-on-three opportunity. Then, after Team USA's Taylor Wasylk (Port Huron, Mich.) was whistled for cross-checking with :55 left in the game, Canada took advantage of a scramble in front of the U.S. net and Marie-Philip Poulin battled one in to tie the game at 19:13.

In an exciting finish, Team USA bounded back just :14 later with Decker potting her second goal of the night on a one-timer from Brittany Ammerman (River Vale, N.J.) for the 3-2 final score.

Boyles turned aside 30 shots for Team USA, while Seguin made 23 saves for Canada.

NOTES: The United States was 1-for-5 on the power play, while Canada was 1-for-6 ... Brianna Decker leads Team USA with five points (4-1) in two games ... Live in-game stats for the Under-18 Series are featured on usahockey.com ... Tickets to all games in the Under-18 Series may be purchased onsite at the Olympic Center Box Office ... Joining Mark Johnson behind the bench as assistant coaches of the U.S. Women's Under-18 Select Team are Jeff Giesen (St. Cloud, Minn.), head women's ice hockey coach at St. Cloud State University, and Katie King (Brighton, Mass.), head women's ice hockey coach at Boston College.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: CAN, Phillips (hooking), 2:35; CAN, Kingsbury (tripping), 9:50; USA, Campbell (boarding), 16:48.

Second Period - Scoring: 1, CAN, Frykas (Pacholok), 4:33; 2, USA, Packer (Wasylk), 8:26; 3, USA, Decker (Kelter), 10:25 (pp). Penalties: CAN, Lacquette (interference), 9:23; CAN, Pacholok (body checking), 19:50.

Third Period - Scoring: 4, CAN, Poulin (Wong), 19:13 (pp); 5, USA, Decker (Ammerman, Kessel), 19:27. Penalties: USA, Kenyon (hooking), 2:55; USA, Bolden (body checking), 7:09; USA, Kelter (cross checking), 7:39; CAN, Fratkin (tripping), 9:45; USA, Kessel (tripping), 16:03; USA, Wasylk (cross checking), 19:05; CAN, Poudrier (holding), 20:00.