LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Three different players netted goals and Lindsay Reed (New Vernon, N.J.) stopped 32 shots as the U.S. Under-18 Women’s Select Team topped Canada, 3-1, here today in the final game of the 2017 Under-18 Series at the Lake Placid Olympic Center.
“Certainly it feels good to win, but I was more impressed with how we played and showed some resiliency after game two,” said U.S. head coach Joel Johnson. “It got close in the third and I was really proud of the effort, especially defensively, that our players showed. It was fun to watch and certainly an exciting series.”
Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) struck first on the power play with 8:09 remaining in the opening period. Murphy gathered a rebound off of a shot from Britta Curl (Bismarck, N.D.), carried the puck around the left faceoff circle and scored on a wrist shot from above the hash marks, giving Team USA a 1-0 lead.
The U.S. extended its lead to 2-0 with 5:50 remaining in the middle frame when Madeline Wethington (Edina, Minn.) scored a power-play goal from the top of the left faceoff circle. Samantha Burke (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Dominique Petrie (Beverly Hills, Calif.) earned assists on the play. Reed made several key saves, and 11 total in the period, to help the U.S. maintain a 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes.
Maggie Connors tallied 6:02 into the third period, to get Canada back to within a goal at 2-1. Hannah Bilka (Coppell, Texas), however, extended Team USA’s advantage to 3-1 with 8:50 left to play as she carried the puck around the back of the net and tucked it in for an unassisted goal.
With the win, the U.S. earned a 2-1 Series victory. Team USA earned a 4-1 victory in the first game of the event on Thursday (Aug. 17), while Canada took game two by a 3-0 count on Friday (Aug. 18).
NOTES: The U.S. Women’s Under-18 Select Team was chosen from the USA Hockey Women’s National Festival that took place Aug. 8-14 in Lake Placid, New York… The U.S. and Canada have met 33 times at the U18 Series, which has been held annually since 2007, and Team USA holds a 14-1-3-15 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.
