USA wraps up U-17 Five Nations Cup title

Team USA U-17 Selects clinched the Five Nations Cup championship at Arosa, Switzerland this morning with an 8-2 win against Germany.

The Americans won all four of its round robin games at the late summer event in Switzerland, picking up 11 of a possible 12 points as Slovakia pushed the Americans to overtime in in their contest.

Entering the day, the Czech Republic still had a mathematical shot at earning points, but Team USA clinched with its win, making the final game, an 8-2 win for Czech Republic over Switzerland basically meaningless.

Like the previous day, when it shut out Switzerland 12-0, the American machine got rolling in the middle period in this one, turning a 2-0 lead after one into a comfortable 7-0 cushion by the start of the final period. Both teams scored one in the final frame.

The Americans received plenty of input from key Midwest-based players that saw their names on all four game sheets through the tournament. In this one though, the offense was paced by defenseman Jack Rathbone from West Roxbury, MA who scored twice.

Sasha Chmelevski from Northville, MI Bobby DeFriest from Coral Springs, FL both collected a goal and two assists in the ame while Ivan Lodnia from Novi, MI, Isaac Johnson from Andover, MN and, Jacob Tortora from Victor, NY  Orange, CA native Jacob McGrew each contributed a goal and assist.

Most of the players from this team will play in the USHL this coming season with a few deciding to remain with their respective high school teams. All were born in 1999.

Listed below are final ranks from the Five Nations Cup

1. USA — 3W, 1OTW — 11 points

2. Czech Republic – 3w, 1L — 9 points

3. Slovakia – 2W, 1OTL, 1L — 7 points

4. Germany – 1W, 3L — 3 points

5. Switzerland -4L — 0 points.