Congratulations Team USA and Coach Larson

Junior Select Team Wins Championship

YARMOUTH, N.S. – The U.S. Junior Select Team won the 2012 World Junior A Challenge tonight by defeating Canada West, 6-3, at Mariners Centre. Team USA scored four unanswered goals through the second and third periods to collect its fourth tournament title in five years.

“This was a complete team victory,” said Brett Larson, head coach of the U.S. Junior Select Team. “We got goals from our big scorers, everyone blocked shots and our goaltender (Eamon McAdam) made key saves. I thought the turning point of the game was killing the five-on-three in the third period. We stayed composed and disciplined and stuck to our plan to play as a team and it paid off. I’m extremely proud of this group.”

Team USA took a 1-0 lead on J.T. Stenglein’s (Greece, N.Y.) first of two goals on the night. Sheldon Dries (Macomb Township, Mich.) made a no-look, backhand pass from the left corner to the top of the left circle, where Stenglein ripped a shot into the net. At 16:32, Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.) cut across the low slot and capitalized on the power play to make it 2-0.

Canada West responded with three straight goals over the first 10 minutes of the second period to take its only lead of the game.

Austin Cangelosi (Estero, Fla.) knotted the game at 3-3 as he sped into the Canadian zone, took a pass from Hinostroza and flipped a backhand shot into the net at 12:31. Less than three minutes later, the U.S. regained the lead, 4-3, when Stenglein banged in a perfect cross-crease feed from Luke Johnson (Grand Forks, N.D.).

Early in the third period, the U.S. maintained its narrow lead by killing off two minutes of five-on-three power play time for Canada West.

At 9:05, Team USA established a two-goal cushion, 5-3, on an Alex Kile (Troy, Mich.) tap-in. Hinostroza drew the defense’s attention to the left side before slipping to puck to Kile at the right post.

Hinostroza completed the scoring with 2:54 to play on a breakaway in which he was tripped by a defenseman, got back on his feet and deked the goalie to his forehand.

Goaltender Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.), who notched each of Team USA’s four tournament wins, turned aside 26-of-29 shots, including all nine in the third period.

NOTES: Team captain Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.) had two goals and two assists and was named the U.S. Player of the Game for the third time in four games. Brady and Hinostroza were named to the tournament all-star team. … The World Junior A Challenge completed its seventh tournament. This marked the sixth entry for the United States in the event. In addition to the United States, the 2012 field included Canada East, Canada West, Czech Republic, Russia and Switzerland. The official event website is available here … Follow @USAHockey and @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates during the tournament and join the conversation by using #WJAC. For additional coverage, visit usahockey.com and USA Hockey’s Facebook … Brett Larson (Sioux City, Iowa), head coach and general manager of the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, is the head coach for the 2012 U.S. Junior Select Team … The assistant coaches are RJ Enga (Chicago, Ill.) and Derek Lalonde (Green Bay, Wis.). Enga is an assistant coach for the USHL’s Chicago Steel, while Lalonde is the head coach of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers … For the complete U.S. roster, click here … The U.S. roster includes 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders. The 22 players represent 10 states. Six players hail from Minnesota, while Michigan (5), Illinois (3) and Massachusetts (2) also have multiple players. Other states include Alaska, Colorado, Florida, New York, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania … Ten USHL teams are represented. Leading the way are the Waterloo Black Hawks, who have five players on the roster, and the Green Bay Gamblers, who have three.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period – Scoring: 1, USA, Stenglein (Dries, Brady), 7:42; 2, USA, Hinostroza (Cangelosi, Dries), 16:31 (pp). Penalties: CAN-W, Richardson (high-sticking), 2:04; USA, Brady (tripping), 12:14; CAN-W, Stecher (hooking), 15:48; CAN-W, Morley (high-sticking), 16:48.

Second Period – Scoring: 3, CAN-W, Lloyd (Toews, Dieno), 0:59; 4, CAN-W, Richardson (Lloyd), 4:41; 5, CAN-W, Toews (Stoykewych, Hadley), 9:31; 6, USA, Cangelosi (Hinostroza), 12:40; 7, USA, Stenglein (Johnson, Brady), 15:15. Penalties: CAN-W, Toews (checking from behind), 1:17; CAN-W, Toews (misconduct), 1:17; USA, Stenglein (elbowing), 2:16; USA, Heinrich (holding), 2:48; CAN-W, Murphy (goaltender interference), 2:48; CAN-W, Ripley (delay of game); USA, Fitzgerald (tripping), 18:46.

Third Period – Scoring: 8, USA, Kile (Hinostroza, Brady), 9:05; 9, USA, Hinostroza (unassisted), 17:06. Penalties: USA, Wade (boarding), 2:19; USA, Stenglein (roughing), 2:19; USA, Fitzgerald (slashing), 18:27.

Power Play: USA 1-5; Canada West 0-6
Penalties: USA 7-14; Canada West 7-22