U17's win Five Nations Tournament

Nicholas Schilkey (Smiths Creek, Mich.) scored four goals, and Joseph Cox (Chelsea, Mich./1-3) and Jordan Masters (Rochester, N.Y./2-2) each recorded four points, as the U.S. Under-17 Select Team defeated Germany, 14-2, in Huttwil, Switzerland, today at the 2010 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament. With the victory, Team USA clinched first place in the tournament, posting its best finish since 2005. The U.S. concluded the week with a 3-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) overall record.

"The story of the day was our outstanding power play and penalty kill," said Sean Tremblay, head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Select Team. "The team really came together this week and had a great deal of success as a result. As a staff, we could not be more proud of them."

Team USA jumped out to a 1-0 lead 7:46 into the first period, when Brian Morgan (Windham, N.H.) connected on a centering pass from Masters. Four minutes later, the U.S. scored its first of six power-play goals. After Teddy Doherty's (Hopkinton, Mass.) shot was turned aside, Masters poked the rebound into the back of the net.

Germany cut the U.S. lead to 2-1 at the 16:08 mark of the first, but Team USA responded one minute later on the man-advantage. Doherty slipped a pass to Cox, who stickhandled and slid a shot between the legs of goaltender Marvin Cupper. With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Schilkey netted a power-play goal on a rebound to give the U.S. a 4-1 advantage.

Team USA scored three goals within the first five minutes of the second period to extend its lead to 7-1. After a scramble in front of the net, Schilkey found the loose puck and buried it for the score. Less than three minutes later, Doherty scored on a tip-in for yet another U.S. power-play goal. Just 29 seconds after that, Kyle Osterberg (Lakeville, Minn.) skated in alone and beat Cupper high to the blocker side.

Midway through the middle frame, Schilkey gave Team USA a seven-goal cushion with his third goal of the game. Zach Stepan (Fairbault, Minn.) won the faceoff in the offensive zone and dished the puck across the crease to Schilkey, who flipped it in behind Cupper. Tim Davison (De Pere, Wis.) scored in a similar fashion just three minutes later.

Riley Barber (Livonia, Mich.) and Masters extended the U.S. lead to 11-1 early in the third period. Germany scored for the second time halfway through the final frame, but Team USA notched three more goals for the decisive 14-2 victory. A.J. Michaelson (Lakeville, Minn.) and Troy Donnay (Fenton, Mich.) assisted Jack Rowe (Cary, Ill.) for two goals, and Schilkey netted his fourth in the last minute of the game to complete the scoring.

U.S. goaltender Jimmy Howe (Northville, Mich.) made 18 saves in the win, while Cupper and Niklas Deske stopped 31 shots in the loss.

NOTES: Team USA went 6-for-7 on the power play, while Germany was 0-for-8 with the man-advantage ... The U.S. outshot Germany, 45-20 ... Nine different players scored Team USA's fourteen goals ... Zach Stepan led the U.S. at the tournament with eight points (3-5) in four games, while Nicholas Schilkey led the team with six goals ... Ryan Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass./2-5), Jordan Masters (3-4) and Schilkey (6-1) were second on the team in points with seven ... The 2010 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament included teams from the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United States. The tournament is in its ninth year and was previously named the Under-17 Four Nations before Germany joined in 2002 ... The U.S. has won the tournament three times (2002, 2003, 2005), finished in second place three times (2004, 2007, 2008) and in third place twice (2006, 2009) ... The 20 players on the U.S. roster represent eight states, with eight players coming from Michigan ... Sean Tremblay is serving as head coach and Matt Herr as assistant coach. Tremblay served as the assistant coach for the gold medal-winning U.S. Under-17 Select Team at the 2006 Under-17 Three Nations Tournament in Rochester, N.Y. He serves as general manager and head coach of the Eastern Junior Hockey League's New Hampshire Junior Monarchs. Herr has been the head varsity hockey coach at the Kent School in Kent, Conn., since 2005. Tremblay and Herr are both Level 4 USA Hockey certified coaches ... For the full Team USA roster, visit USAHockey.com ... The U.S. Under-17 Select Team was chosen following the annual USA Hockey Boys' Select 16 Player Development Camp, held June 25-July 1, at the Sports Centre at MCC in Rochester, N.Y. The camp provides top young players with concentrated on- and off-ice training and instruction as well as the opportunity to compete at a national level against other players from their age group.