UW Hockey Players open World Juniors Slate
December 20, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Sophomores Jake Dowell and Jeff Likens, and former Badger Ryan Suter helped begin Team USA's defense of its World Junior Championship title with its 2005 World Junior Championship exhibition schedule on Sunday. The country's best under-20 players earned a 3-0 shutout win over the University of North Dakota at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Among the Badger connections, Suter scored the game's first goal, the game-winner, late in the first period.
The defending IIHF World Junior Champion United States broke a scoreless tie with 3:09 remaining in the first period on a Ryan Suter (Madison, Wis./Milwaukee Admirals) shot from the slot. Suter, who was recently named the U.S. captain along with alternates O'Sullivan and Dan Fritsche (Parma, Ohio/Sarnia Sting), beat Jake Brandt to the goaltender's right side on Team USA's sixth shot of the game.
North Dakota outshot the United States, 10-6, in the second period, but was outscored, 2-0, with T.J. Hensick (Howell, Mich./Univ. of Michigan) and O 'Sullivan providing the offense. Hensick converted a Fritsche pass while alone in the slot at 18:27 of the second, while O'Sullivan knocked a loose puck in at the 8:42 mark to close Sunday's scoring.
Montoya, the NCAA leader in minutes played this season, recorded the win with a 15-save effort. O'Sullivan (goal, assist) and Stafford (two assists) picked up two points to lead the United States, and Stafford led the team in shots with three.
Team USA plays one more exhibition game, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CST in Thief River Falls, Minn., where it will face Germany. The 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship opens in earnest on Dec. 25 and will be played at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks and Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls from Dec. 25, 2004-Jan. 4, 2005.
