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USA Advances to Quarterfinals
Written by: League Press Release on 12/31/2002 
U.S. Advances To Quarterfinals; Jan. 2 Game To Be Televised On YES Network
SYDNEY, Nova Scotia -- The United States National Junior Team advanced to the Quarterfinal Round of the 2003 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship by defeating Slovakia, 3-1, here this afternoon. With the win, the U.S. completes Preliminary Round play with a 3-1-0 record, earning second place in Group A. Team USA will take on either the Czech Republic (1-1-1) or Sweden (1-2-0) in the quarterfinals in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Jan. 2. The game will be televised on the YES Network at 7:00 p.m. EST. The game can also be heard live exclusively through an online audiocast at www.USAHockey.com. To listen to the live play-by-play commentary via telephone, dial toll-free (800) 846-4700, code no. 8724 (USAH).
Slovakia opened the scoring 7:31 into the first period when Dominik Granak's long pass found Juraj Sykora alone behind the U.S. defense. Sykora's wrister from inside the left face-off circle deflected off the pad of Team USA goaltender Bob Goepfert (Kings Park, N.Y./Providence College) and into the net.
The U.S. evened the score five minutes into the second period after forward Chris Higgins (Smithtown, N.Y./Yale Univ.) stickhandled past two defenders along the boards to work his way toward the net. After two shot attempts, Higgins batted home a rebound on the left side for his third goal of the tournament. Forwards Dwight Helminen (Brighton, Mich./Univ. of Michigan) and Ryan Kesler (Livonia, Mich./Ohio State Univ.) added assists on the game-tying goal.
Team USA staked a 2-1 lead just 42 seconds later. U.S. forward Zach Parise (Faribault, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) took a lead pass from defenseman Ryan Suter (Madison, Wis./U.S. National Under-18 Team) and shed a defender to fire a wrist shot that beat Slovakian netminder Jan Chovan top-shelf. Team captain Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y./Univ. of Michigan) also recorded an assist on the eventual game winner.
With less than eight minutes remaining in the contest, Team USA added an insurance goal on the power play. Dustin Brown (Ithaca, N.Y./Guelph Storm) took a pass from Parise from along the boards, and his one-timer found the corner of the net.
Goepfert won his third consecutive game for the U.S., stopping 26 of 27 shots. Chovan made 23 saves in the loss for Slovakia, which finished in third place in Group A with a 2-2-0 record.
GAME SUMMARY
Slovakia 1 - 0 - 0 -- 1
United States 0 - 2 - 1 -- 3
First Period: Scoring: 1, SVK, Sykora (Granak, Kokavec), 7:31. Penalties: Granak, SVK (interference), 2:49; Kokavec, SVK (interference), 11:56; Jones, USA (high sticking), 14:13; Greene, USA (cross checking), 14:40; Greene, USA (roughing), 17:59.
Second Period: Scoring: 2, USA, Higgins (Helminen, Kesler), 5:02. 3, USA, Parise (Nystrom, Suter), 5:44. Penalties: Brown, USA (slashing), 14:32; Guyer, USA (roughing), 19:33.
Third Period: Scoring: 4, USA, Brown (Nystrom, Parise), 12:19 (pp). Penalties: Slovak, SVK (elbowing), 11:15; Slovak, SVK (abuse of official--10-min./game misconduct), 12:19; Whitney, USA (slashing), 20:00; Whitney, USA (tripping), 20:00.
Shots: SVK: 10 - 7 - 10 -- 27. USA: 8 - 7 - 11 -- 26.
Goaltenders: SVK: Chovan (26 shots, 23 saves).
USA: Goepfert (27 shots, 26 saves).
Referee: Ulf Radbjer. Linesmen: Lars Kronborg, Michel Cormier.
Attendance: 2,238.
Copyright 2002 Hockey’s Future. Do not reprint or otherwise duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.
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