Chicago Steel get big win over Team USA
After being acquired via trade earlier in the day, newcomer Aleksi Halme recorded three points in his Steel debut to lead Chicago (22-6-1-3, 48 pts.) to a 6-2 win over Team USA U17 (11-15-1-1 24 pts.) Saturday at Fox Valley Ice Arena. Six different players registered goals for Chicago. Johnny Walker, Baker Shore and Jake Jaremko also picked up multi-point nights in the win and netminder Peter Thome stopped 20 shots in his first home appearance.
The Steel opened the scoring when Mitch Lewandowski received a pass in the slot from Walker and quickly redirected the puck past Team USA netminder Erik Gordon at 7:40. The lead was then doubled at 14:04; Jaremko fired a shot toward the right post, and defenseman Corson Green jammed the puck under Gordon's glove. Chicago brought its 2-0 lead into the first intermission while leading in shots, 9-6.
Chicago started the second period strong when defenseman Wyatt Aamodt recorded his first career USHL goal with a shot fired from the left point that beat Gordon at 3:17. A few minutes later, Derek Daschke found a bouncing puck in front and sent it past the glove of Gordon at 7:24.
The Steel improved their lead to 5-0 thanks to a tic-tac-toe power play sequence sent from Reggie Lutz to Jaremko, and then Jack Badini completed the play, tying the team lead with his 15th goal of the season.
Team USA got on the board late in the 2nd period when Jake Pivonka beat Thome over the glove at 16:36. The score was 5-1 Chicago after two periods of play. Chicago doubled Team USA, 14-7, in 2nd period shots.
USA winger Joel Farabee registered the first goal of the 3rd period when he cashed in on a breakaway opportunity, firing a shot over Thome's left shoulder at 5:09, getting the visitors back within three goals.
The game's final goal was scored with 1:18 remaining. Halme cut through two defenders and drove across the slot, drawing Gordon down and firing a shot over the blocker to give Chicago a four-goal victory.
In total, 12 Steel skaters registered at least one point.