Vaughan to Play Second WUG for Team USA

USA Hockey announced Wednesday that senior Women's Ice Hockey Club goaltender Katie Vaughan will play for Team USA at the upcoming Winter World University Games, which will be held December 10th through 21st in Trentino, Italy.

She was one of 17 named to what USA Hockey is calling a "preliminary roster," with more players to be added later this month.

Last season, en route to second-team All-ACHA Tournament and ACHA All-American honorable mention honors, Vaughan posted sparkling stats: an 8-4-0 record with a 1.40 goals against average, a 0.943 save percentage, and a shutout in helping to lead Penn State to the ACHA Division 2 national championship game. She spent her first two years at PSU with the ACHA Division 1 Lady Icers program, where she notably backstopped the team's 3-2 overtime upset of NCAA Division I Sacred Heart on January 14th, 2012. So far in 2013-2014, she has a perfect stat line, thanks to two shutout periods against Liberty in September 27th's season opener.

Vaughan also played for Team USA at the 2011 World University Games in Erzurum, Turkey, the first time USA Hockey sent a women's team to the tournament. Alongside fellow Lady Icers Heather Rossi, Lindsay Reihl and Denise Rohlik, she went 2-1-0 in four games, including a 1.81 goals against average and a shutout to help the Americans to fourth place. Vaughan is one of just two returning members of that team, as she's joined by Robert Morris (IL) forward Ramey Weaver in that category.

Team USA, it was previously announced, will be led by long-time Penn State hockey coach Mo Stroemel, who has served as director of operations for the NCAA women's team, as both an assistant and a head coach with the Lady Icers and the ACHA Men's Division 2 Ice Lions, and also as an assistant with the ACHA Men's Division 1 Icers. He was the head coach of the 2011 U.S. World University Games entry as well. Stroemel will be assisted by Rob Blackburn and Kristen Wright, the head coaches at Michigan and Colorado, respectively.

There are other Penn State connections to the WUG as well. Massachusetts defender Paige Harrington, who played for the Lady Icers in 2011-2012 before transferring, is on the women's preliminary roster. Former Icers head (2006-2011) and assistant (1997-1999, 2001-2006) coach Scott Balboni will lead the men's team at the tournament.

Here is the schedule Stroemel, Vaughan, Harrington and the U.S. women's team face, with all games being played in a 1,672-seat rink in Pergine Valsugana, a municipality within the province of Trentino in northern Italy. All times are Eastern.

December 10th vs. Russia, 10:00 a.m.
December 12th vs. Great Britain, 6:00 a.m.
December 13th vs. Japan, 2:00 p.m.
December 15th vs. Canada, 2:00 p.m.
December 16th vs. Spain, 2:00 p.m.
December 18th vs. Semifinals, TBD
December 20th vs. Championship/Third Place, TBD

Friedman, Zimmel Aim For Maccabiah Games Gold

PSU's Jacob Friedman faces off against Michigan State's Lee Reimer on January 26th

Nittany Lions junior Jacob Friedman and former Icer Jaime Zimmel are two of the 18 players who will compete for Team USA in the hockey tournament at the 19th Maccabiah Games, a quadrennial event for Jewish athletes. The 2013 version will take place in Israel from July 19th through 26th. In all, approximately 9,000 athletes from 76 countries will participate in what is the third-largest international sporting event in the world.

However, with fewer than 100 athletes and four countries - Canada, Israel, Ukraine and the U.S. - in the open division of the Maccabiah's first hockey competition since 1997, the format will be quite simple. Each team will play the other three during a round robin stage lasting from July 20th through the 23rd. After that, each squad will be seeded for purposes of placement in the July 24th semifinals, with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The points system will be two for a win, one for a tie, zero for a loss, the IIHF rule book will be used, and all games will be played at the Canada Center in the town of Metula, Israel's only full-size ice rink.

Friedman, unofficially the first NCAA-era recruit in Penn State history in that he was the first commit following the the Pegula donation announcement, is coming off of his sophomore season. In thirteen 2012-2013 games, Friedman scored once and added an assist, with both points in a 4-0 win over Division III Fredonia State on December 11, 2012. As a freshman with the Icers, he had nine goals and 12 assists in 31 games, helping PSU to the number one ranking for most of the season and a berth in the ACHA national semifinals. In May, Friedman was honored as an Academic All-Big Ten selection.

This won't be Zimmel's first time competing in a red, white and blue jersey. In 2009, while still an Icer, he was a member of Team USA's World University Games entry that finished a best-ever seventh place (a mark later eclipsed by 2011's sixth-place team) in Harbin, China. Zimmel scored three times and added an assist in five tournament games, including two third-period points against Slovakia on February 22, 2009. After overtime became necessary largely thanks to the New Jersey native, the U.S. went on to a shootout win clinched by Icers teammate Lukas DeLorenzo. Zimmel played 122 games at Penn State from 2005 through 2009 and registered 93 points, including a 26-goal campaign in 2007-2008.

Besides Zimmel and Friedman, other current and former college players dot Team USA's roster, including Air Force goaltender Jason Torf, Vermont forward Pete Massar and Bentley defenseman Steve Weinstein. Former Boston University star and AHLer Colby Cohen, a Philadelphia-area native who scored the national championship-winning overtime goal against Miami in 2009 and Abington's Ben Pulley, who played for the EJHL's Philadelphia Revolution last season, represent the Keystone State on the roster. Former Michigan forward Billy Jaffe, who is now an NHL Network analyst, is the head coach.

Following the Maccabiah Games promises to recreate the struggle of doing so with the WUG (or any non-televised overseas happening, to be fair), but live scoring and results can be found on the event's website, its YouTube channel may include highlights, and photos will be posted to Maccabi USA site.

Here's the full schedule for the hockey tournament. Keep in mind that all times given are local and that Israel Daylight Time is seven hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. So for example, Team USA's opening game with the host country will be played at 2:30 p.m. in Pennsylvania but 9:30 p.m. in Israel.

Balboni, Stroemel to Lead WUG Teams

Scott Balboni

Former Icers head coach Scott Balboni and current NCAA women's director of hockey operations Mo Stroemel have been selected to lead the 2013 World University Games men's and women's hockey teams, respectively, USA Hockey announced Wednesday afternoon. The bi-annual event will take place December 11th through 21st in Trentino, Italy and, as has been the case since 2001, the American entries will be stocked with ACHA players.

Both men have extensive backgrounds with Penn State hockey. Balboni, a lieutenant for Joe Battista from 1997-1999 and 2002-2006 (periods that include the Icers' 1998 and 2003 ACHA national championship teams), took over as head coach when Battista stepped aside to - as we know now - focus on landing nine-figure donations. The former Hockey East champion defenseman at Providence put together a 149-33-9 record from 2006-2011, including an ACHA championship game appearance, an ACHA Coach of the Year award (both in 2007) and six ESCHL regular season or playoff championships. He was inducted into the Penn State Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Mo Stroemel

Stroemel has been involved with PSU hockey in one form or another since 1994, always going wherever needed and doing a fantastic job. He was an assistant coach (1994-1997) and the head coach (1997-2004) of the ACHA Division 2 Ice Lions during their formative years and built them into a national power through a 131-62-11 record and an appearance in the 2004 D2 semifinals. He then served as an assistant with the Icers from 2004-2007 and head coach of the Lady Icers from 2007-2011 before Josh Brandwene's hire as the first NCAA women's head coach moved him to an assistant coach's role in 2011-2012 and then to his present position.

Penn State has been well represented at the World University Games over the last dozen years of ACHA participation. Balboni was an assistant coach on both the seventh-place 2009 men's team and the sixth-place outfit in 2011, while Stroemel reprises his role as the head coach of the first-ever U.S. women's WUG team, which finished fourth in 2011. Battista, now PSU's associate athletic director for ice arena and hockey operations, was Team USA's head coach in 2003, where he was assisted by Brandwene (then the head coach with the Delaware men's team). Men's Director of Hockey Operations Billy Downey was a player on that 2003 team, which finished 11th in Tarvisio, Italy. Current NCAA men's senior Eric Steinour was a forward on the 2011 team, while NCAA women's senior Lindsay Reihl played defense on the 2011 women's team.

Katie Vaughan

Notably, ACHA women's goalie Katie Vaughan, now a junior, was also on the 2011 team as a freshman. In the tournament, she appeared in four games with a 2-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record, a sparkling 1.81 goals against average, a 0.857 save percentage, and a shutout of host Turkey. With the selection of Stroemel, her coach at the 2011 WUG and also with the Lady Icers of course, Vaughan would seem a likely candidate to become the third Penn State player to appear in two World University Games, following former Icers Josh Mandel and Lukas DeLorenzo.

Here's a complete list of Penn State's World University Games player and coach participation, as of today.

2001 in Zakopane, Poland: Mandel, Mike Blevins, Scott Curry, Greg Held
2003 in Tarvisio, Italy: Downey, Mandel, Curtiss Patrick, Neal Price, Battista (head coach)
2005 in Innsbruck, Austria: Eric Harbaugh, Kevin Jaeger, Joe Maglaque
2007 in Torino, Italy: DeLorenzo, Frank Berry, Keith Jordan, Michael McMullen
2009 in Harbin, China: DeLorenzo, Jamie Zimmel, Balboni (assistant coach)
2011 in Erzurum, Turkey (men): Steinour, Tim O'Brien, Balboni (assistant coach)
2011 in Erzurum, Turkey (women): Vaughan, Reihl, Heather Rossi, Denise Rohlik, Stroemel (head coach)
2013 in Trentino, Italy (men): Balboni (head coach)
2013 in Trentino, Italy (women): Stroemel (head coach)

PSU and Lindenwood: Two of the Same?

Freshman goalie Nicole Hensley, a former teammate of PSU defender Jeanette Bateman, has been arguably the most important player while under constant pressure for 0-10-0 Lindenwood this season.

In this inaugural Division I season, the Nittany Lion women (4-7-1, 0-5-1 CHA) aren't likely to find a better way to measure their progress as a first-year program than in the four scheduled games against Lindenwood, the first two of which are tonight at 8:00 p.m. and tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, MO.

The reason is obvious, and probably already known to most of you. But for those who may be unfamiliar, LU made a transition identical to the one now underway at PSU just one year ago. The Lady Lions - like their male counterparts - were an ACHA juggernaut, winning national championships in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. LU faced the Lady Icers six times during their shared ACHA tenure and won each contest, including one at the 2007 ACHA national championships. Nittany Lion seniors Lindsay Reihl and Kate Christoffersen played in each of the other five including the most recent, a 2-1 loss at the Ice Pavilion on October 3, 2010 that saw 54 saves from current ACHA women's team goalie Katie Vaughan.

Though Lindenwood may have started from a higher ACHA plane, Penn State had a sizable advantage through its transition process - specifically the amount of time to prepare for the move. PSU, of course, made its elevation announcement on September 17, 2010 and played its first NCAA Division I game on October 6th. Lindenwood made its announcement six months later, on March 25, 2011, and played its first DI game one year earlier, on September 23, 2011 (they chose to make their debut at Wisconsin, which is either brave or stupid, depending on your outlook). Six months simply isn't enough time to make a full transition, which is possibly reflected by the fact that Penn State already has more wins against DI competition than LU by a 4-2 count. A quality series from PSU this weekend to go with another at the Ice Pavilion on February 8th and 9th would reinforce the idea that Josh Brandwene, his staff and the team have done a phenomenal job getting things off the ground - even to the point where they've passed programs with a head start.

The games, additionally, are a chance for to solidify a position in the CHA standings, as PSU is a point up on the Lions thanks to a tie with RIT on October 26th, but sixth-place Lindenwood has a whopping four games in hand (technically, a sweep would boost Penn State all the way to second place, as both RIT and Robert Morris are playing non-conference games this weekend, although both the Tigers and Colonials would have several in hand as well).

Senior captain Brett Lobreau, who already has a 5-0-0 career record against Penn State (including two goals and an assist), leads the Lady Lions defense.

Here's the thing, though: Lindenwood likely sees things the same way, as an opportunity to collect wins against a first-year program following a brutal start to this season, and indeed their entire NCAA DI existence. LU, as mentioned, made the move from ACHA to NCAA last season and struggled mightily. They ended up 11-21-0, but 2-18-0 against other DI teams, beating only Sacred Heart (and SHU went from December 17, 2008 through October 19, 2012 between wins against DI opponents... I won't mention the game that ended that run, though).

This year, the Lady Lions are 0-10-0 (0-2-0 CHA), though it needs to be said that LU has upgraded quite significantly from last year's transitional schedule, part of which included joining the CHA along with PSU and RIT. The opponents so far: Ohio State, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State on the road, Wisconsin and Mercyhurst at home. Yikes. Not surprisingly, playing a bunch of national powers and schools from the nation's best conference - both, in Wisconsin's case - has led to a bunch of unflattering statistics.

Lindenwood allows 5.5 goals and 53.2 shots per game while scoring a mere 0.9 on 21.7 shots. The Lady Lions have yet to score a third-period goal this season and have spent exactly 19 minutes, 32 seconds with the lead. The team's top scorer is Alison Wickenheiser, who has three points on a goal and two assists (Allysson Arcibal and Lyndsay Kirkham hold the runner-up slots with a pair of goals each). Freshman goaltender Nicole Hensley, actually one of the team's bright spots so far, has not faced fewer than 41 pucks in any game that she's started and finished.

Does any of that matter, particularly in light of LU's schedule? No, not really. The only statistic that matters, as the cliche goes, is two, the number of wins possible from the weekend. For Lindenwood, two would represent a possible turning point in their DI history. For Penn State, two would simply represent another few milestones (first CHA wins and sweep, first road sweep, a proven measure of growth against another new NCAA program, etc.).

In light of those contrasting statements, maybe measurement isn't necessary after all.

Thanks to (clockwise, from top left) Lindsay Reihl, Erica Wynn, Mo Stroemel, Vince O'Mara, Allysson Arcibal and Samantha Redick, this weekend will be an informal 2011 World University Games reunion.

There are always connections between teams in the tightly-knit hockey community, but Penn State and Lindenwood seem to have an inordinate amount of them. Consider:

• Junior defender Chelsea Witwicke was two years ahead of Paige Jahnke at Roseville High School. The two won the Minnesota state AA championship together in Witwicke's senior year of 2009-2010. Witwicke started her college career at Niagara but transferred to LU when the Purple Eagles dropped women's hockey after last season.
• Junior forward Jocelyn Slattery played with Taylor Gross, Nicole Paniccia and Jenna Welch at Connecticut from 2010 through 2012 (2011 in the case of Gross).
• Junior forward Arcibal, senior forward Erica Wynn and junior forward Samantha Redick all played with Reihl on Team USA at the 2011 World University Games in Erzurum, Turkey. The four helped the U.S.' first-ever WUG women's entry to a fourth-place finish. By the way, director of hockey ops/video coach Mo Stroemel coached the team and was assisted by LU head coach Vince O'Mara.
• Freshman goalie Nicole Hensley and freshman defender Chloe Williams played with Jeanette Bateman with the Colorado Select program.
• Freshman defender Rachel Weich played with Emily Laurenzi at National Sports Academy.

I just named 15 of the 50 rostered players in the game (30 percent) on a pretty superficial flyover. Win or lose, I suppose the good news is that the teams can probably have an incident-free pizza party afterwards.

Breakout Past: 2003 WUG T-Shirt

Normally, a simple t-shirt would be beneath this series. This one merits an exception though, as it has both historical and entertainment value in its depiction of the Penn Staters who represented their country in the 2003 World University Games in Tarvisio, Italy. The 2003 edition of the bi-annual event was the second since USA Hockey recommenced participation using some of the ACHA's best players.

The shirt itself is just a plain white t (hey there Delilah) with the pictured design on the front. I have no idea who drew Joe Battista and former Icers Bill Downey, Josh Mandel, Neal Price and Curtiss Patrick, but he or she did a pretty decent job with the four players and their wildly varying hairstyles. Here's proof.

If you need a caption, I guess I was wrong.

The depiction of Battista is interesting however, to say the least. While it's possible that he chewed some Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum and turned into a giant blueberry at some point just prior to finalizing the shirt, I prefer to think of the blue oval as decorative and of Battista as resembling another classic character.

I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL JOEBA!

Not pictured on the shirt: new women's hockey coach Josh Brandwene, an assistant on the team - although Battista's first recruit at Penn State was disqualified from cartoonification by virtue of his being a Delaware Blue Hen head coach at the time. But for what it's worth, Battista recently described having Brandwene next to him in that tournament as one of his favorite coaching memories.

Despite the presence of the two great coaches, Team USA didn't fare very well at the games, going 0-5-0 and finishing 11th against some tough competition including the Czech Republic, Finland and Canada. Individually though, the Penn State contingent proved to be worthy selections as Price (1-2-3), Patrick (1-2-3) and Mandel (1-1-2) were three of the team's top four scorers. Patrick, as tends to happen with him, was also second in penalty minutes with 10.

From a team standpoint, it did get better for Battista and his quartet of players that season upon returning stateside, in the form of the Murdoch Cup. But that was a different post.

World University Games: Day 11

I know the tournaments ended for both US teams, and for the entire women's field for that matter, yesterday. But how lame would I be if I came this far with it, then completely ignored the culmination of the men's tournament? Exceedingly. So on that note...

Gold Medal Game

Russian captain Sergey Salnikov's goal completed the scoring in the goal medal match - just 5:44 into the game - as Russia successfully defended their gold medal with a 1-0 win over Belarus. Goalie Emil Garipov stopped all 22 he faced from Pavel Razvadouski and the explosive Belarus offense. Russia certainly didn't make it easy on any comeback attempts by allowing only two Belarussian power plays from Salnikov's goal through the end of the game.

Russia has now won four of the last five WUG gold medals (2011, 2009, 2005, 2003) and tossing in 1993, they have five in total (the Soviet Union had another five).

Taking it back to Team USA for a second and what I've been saying the last couple days: even though Belarus lost, it's hard not to be encouraged. They were right there with the historically dominant team at the event, and we were right there with them.

Here's the FISU highlight reel:



Bronze Medal Game

Canadian Interuniversity Sport recap

Goals from Yashar Farmanara, Maxime Langelier-Parent and Kyle Sonnenburg lifted Team Canada over Kazazhstan 3-1. Canadian goalie Anthony Grieco was perfect when the game was in doubt, getting his shutout bid spoiled with just 49 seconds left. Because they speak English in Canada, here are a couple excerpts from the link above:

Canada now has 11 men’s hockey medals in history at the World University Games including three gold, three silver and five bronze. It marked the third consecutive Universiade podium for the Canadians following a second-place finish in 2009 and a championship title in 2007, and their seventh medal in the last eight Games going back to 1997.

“We’ve been together as a team for 22 days and these guys worked extremely hard from day one, so I’m really happy that they get to go home with a medal. They battled back after a heartbreaking loss yesterday. It’s a well-deserved bronze medal,” said Team Canada head coach Clarke Singer of the University of Western Ontario. “Kazakhstan has a good team. We got up by a couple of goals but they just hung around. Their goalie had an outstanding game.”
 
“It’s not exactly what we set out to do but I don’t think we can be disappointed. We had a great tournament,” said team captain Jordan Smith from Lakehead University. “We had a really hard game last night against the Russians. We know we gave it everything we had and we’re happy to be going home with a medal.”
 
“Overall it was an unbelievable experience. We had a great group of guys, and I can’t say enough about the coaching staff. It’s a great feeling right now,” added the defenceman from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., who carried the Canadian flag into the opening ceremonies.  

Final Tournament Placement

1. Russia
2. Belarus
3. Canada
4. Kazakhstan
5. Slovakia
6. USA
7. Czech Republic
8. Japan
9. Slovenia
10. Spain
11. South Korea
12. Turkey

World University Games: Day 10

Men

USA Hockey recap

I know I essentially said the same thing after the quarterfinal loss to Belarus, but I really hope everyone looks beyond the defeat to the big picture of how the World University Games program, the ACHA and hockey in the US in general are trending. The future is bright - we went from bottom feeders to solidly in the second tier in the first decade. The next decade will see us take still another step. Here are the details: 

O'Brien digs DMB like every Penn Stater since 1995

ERZURUM, Turkey – Team USA scored three goals in the third period to pull within one, but the U.S. Men's National University Team dropped a 4-3 decision to Slovakia here today in its final game of the 2011 Winter World University Games. Team USA captured sixth place and finished the tournament with a 3-0-0-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.

This marks the U.S. Men's National University Team's highest finish at the tournament. In past performances, Team USA has finished seventh (2009), eighth (2001, 2007), ninth (2005) and eleventh (2003).

Team USA fell behind less than three minutes into the game. Devin Sheehan (Binghamton, N.Y./University of Rhode Island) was then assessed a penalty shot at the 6:05 mark, but failed to convert.

After Slovakia built up a 3-0 lead in the middle frame, the U.S. responded with two power-play goals in the third period. Alan Dionne (North Scituate, R.I./University of Rhode Island) scored at the 8:55 mark and Tim O'Brien (Bethel Park, Pa./Penn State University) notched another power-play tally just 2:05 later to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Slovakia extended its lead to 4-2 only 27 seconds later. Dan Lassik (Garnet Valley, Pa./University of Rhode Island) then scored with 18 seconds remaining in regulation to bring the U.S. within one goal, but Slovakia held on for the victory.

Goaltender Dan Pyne (Warrington, Pa./Drexel University) made 24 saves for the U.S., while Peter Pus stopped 25 shots for Slovakia.

Penn State Update

O'Brien's goal, his third in as many games, came on the power play and gave Team USA a brief (and I mean brief - Slovakia answered 27 seconds later) glimpse at the end of the comeback tunnel at 3-2 with exactly 9:00 remaining. Michael Macari and James Telfer had the two assists. Speaking of assists, O'Brien got one of those as well, on Lassik's goal with 18 seconds left that unfortunately served mostly as window dressing. Other than that, he found himself on ice for three other goals, five of the seven scored in the game in total. The exceptions were Slovakia's first goal 2:47 into the game and the aforementioned goal 27 seconds after his, which works out to an even plus-minus. He fired two pucks on net and was 0-for-4 on his draws. O'Brien finished the tournament tied for second on Team USA with three goals (with Macari) behind only Dionne's four. The total was also good enough to tie for 23rd overall in the tournament with the gold and bronze medal games still to come.

Eric Steinour finished the game with a +1 rating by being on for that late Lassik goal while taking three shots and winning one of his two faceoffs. Unfortunately, he ended the tournament pointless, although it seems that, in looking at the available information, the coaches saw value in him logging good ice time right up until the end. 

Final PSU Stats               

        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM

Tim O'Brien     6   3   1   4    -1   0

Eric Steinour   6   0   0   0    -2   6

Other Games

In semifinal action, Belarus goalie Vitali Bialinski - the guy who came in and shut the door on Team USA after Tim O'Brien's goal in the quarterfinals - stopped 29 of 30 as the Belarussians advanced to the gold medal game with a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan. Pavel Razvadouski had a goal and an assist to support the winning effort...Belarus will take on their former countrymen, Russia, for the gold. Anton Lazarev's goal 1:29 into the third period proved to be the difference as the Russians took down Canada 4-2. Brandon MacLean had a goal and a helper for Team Canada.

The Czech Republic used a pair of second period goals from Pavel Kriz and Martin Spok to erase a 2-1 deficit and rally past Japan 3-2 to take 7th place.

Final Tournament Placement

1. Russia/Belarus

2. Russia/Belarus

3. Kazakhstan/Canada

4. Kazakhstan/Canada

5. Slovakia

6. USA

7. Czech Republic

8. Japan

9. Slovenia

10. Spain

11. South Korea

12. Turkey

Upcoming Schedule

February 6th

Bronze medal game:
CAN-KAZ 4:30 a.m.

Gold medal game:
BLR-RUS 8:00 a.m.

Women

USA Hockey recap

At the risk of sounding repetitive (again), the women's team is also deserving of our utmost respect and congratulations. Tying it back to what I said about the men's team above, the women are miles ahead of where the men were in 2001, and it will also be exciting to watch this side of things grow in the coming years. So despite unfortunately not coming away with the bronze, job well done. Recap:

Crawford is generally awesome

ERZURUM, Turkey – Shea Crawford (Selbyville, Del./Lindenwood University) scored the lone goal for Team USA, as the U.S. Women's National University Team fell to Slovakia, 3-1, here today in the bronze-medal game of the the 2011 Winter World University Games. Team USA finished the tournament with a 2-0-0-5 (W-OTW-OTL-L) overall record.

The 2011 Winter World University Games marked the first time the U.S. sent a women's team after women's ice hockey was added to the tournament in 2009. The U.S. Women's National University Team's fourth-place finish is the highest a U.S. team has placed at the tournament.

"It was a great game today," said Mo Stroemel, head coach of the U.S. Women's National University Team. "We've made history and hopefully paved the way for many future women's teams that will play in this tournament."

Slovakia took a 1-0 lead 9:09 into the game with the first period's lone tally. The U.S. proceeded to have two breakaway opportunities, but could not find the back of the net.

After a scoreless second period, Slovakia scored just 41 seconds into the final frame and then notched a power-play tally at the 11:45 mark.

Down 3-0 heading into the final two minutes of regulation, Crawford gave the U.S. life when she scored on the power play. After Slovakia was called for tripping at 18:16, Emily Nelson (Harper Woods, Mich./University of Michigan) and Megan Winters (Basking Ridge, N.J./Northeastern University) set up Crawford, who sent a shot on net that beat Slovakian goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova with 1:28 remaining in the period.

Thirty-nine seconds later, the U.S. sent an extra skater to the ice, but could not edge closer as Slovakia held on for the 3-1 victory.

Goaltender Katie Vaughan (South Park, Pa./Penn State University) made 18 saves for Team USA, while Tomcikova stopped 27 shots for Slovakia.

Penn State Update

Vaughan finished a strong tournament by stopping 18 of 21 in defeat - none of the three goals appear soft on paper, they all came from that prime territory between the circles and down low. Her cumulative 1.81 goals against average was the best in the tournament outside of the goalies from dominant teams Finland and Canada...Reihl was a -1 (on for the 2-0 goal 41 seconds into the third) and took one shot. Her three assists for the tournament were good enough to land her 19th on the list of highest-scoring defenders, behind teammates Megan Winters, Crawford and Christina Young and her six penalty minutes tied her for 13th overall...Denise Rohlik didn't show up on the stats for the second straight game, but also had a good tournament, as you can see below.

Final PSU Stats                        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM
Lindsay Reihl   7   0   3   3    -8   6
Denise Rohlik   7   1   3   4    +7   0

                GP   Record    SOG   SVS  SV%    GAA    SHO
Heather Rossi   4    0-0-0-4   151   129  0.854  6.00   0
Katie Vaughan   4    2-0-0-1   42    36   0.857  1.81   1
        
Other Games

Canada cruised to the gold medal in surprisingly easy (considering their tilt in group play) fashion, 4-1 over Finland. Finland, of course, takes home silver. Goalie Liz Knox made 20 saves on 21 shots, and Jessica Zerafa's goal 4:01 into the second period held up as the game winner. The Canadians rode roughshod over the competition all the way through, allowing only three goals and 63 shots over the entire tournament. Incidentally, Charlotte Hoium's goal (from Lindsay Reihl) in the semifinals was the only one of the three not scored by Finland and their five Olympic medalists.

In the 5th place game, Great Britain blew out Turkey 10-0. Sophie Herbert scored three of the ten, while Holly Cornford and Jennifer Bolton each added two.  

Final Tournament Placement

1. Canada

2. Finland

3. Slovakia

4. USA

5. Great Britain

6. Turkey

World University Games: Day 9

Men

USA Hockey recap

I guess taking a ton of penalties isn't quite as bad when you score almost as many shorthanded as the other team does on the power play. It wasn't easy, or pretty, but the win guarantees Team USA its highest WUG finish since the ACHA helped revive the American presence at the event in 2001. The US earned a bronze medal at the 1972 WUG using players from...I don't know, somewhere else. The NCAA, presumably. Here's the write-up: 

Lepre bagged a shorty

ERZURUM, Turkey – Paced by shorthanded goals from Michael Lepre (Chesterland, Ohio/Kent State University) and Devin Sheehan (Binghamton, N.Y./University of Rhode Island), the U.S. Men's National University Team topped Japan, 5-3, at the 2011 Winter World University Games. Eleven players recorded a point for Team USA, which advances to the fifth-place game against Slovakia tomorrow (Feb. 5) at 1 p.m. EST.

"This is a huge win for us, especially since Japan has beaten us at the last two tournaments," said Dave Debol, head coach of the U.S. Men's National University Team. "We've accomplished our goal of placing higher than we ever have before at this tournament and earning fifth place would be a great honor."

Team USA opened the scoring 6:39 into the first period, when Lepre notched a shorthanded tally. Augie Hoffmann (Lake Forest, Ill./University of Oklahoma) sent a feed to Lepre, who skated up ice on a breakaway and fired a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat Japanese goaltender Yuta Narisawa.

Japan tied the game at the 10:45 mark of the second period, but the U.S. gained a 2-1 edge less than five minutes later with a goal by Alan Dionne (North Scituate, R.I./University of Rhode Island).

Tim O'Brien (Bethel Park, Pa./Penn State University) then scored with just :38 remaining in the middle frame to give Team USA a two-goal cushion heading into the third period.

The U.S. took a 4-1 lead 4:38 into the third period when Sheehan scored Team USA's second shorthanded goal of the game. Japan scored twice to cut the U.S. lead to 4-3, but Kevin Kranker (Lake Orion, Mich./Oakland University) notched a power-play goal to secure the 5-3 victory.

Team USA goaltender Erik Hudson (Spokane, Wash./Iowa State University) made 36 saves in the win, while Narisawa stopped 29 shots for Japan.

Penn State Update

For the second straight game, O'Brien scored an important goal on a day where they were all pretty important. It came on a 2-on-1 with Grant Gorczyca at the 19:22 mark of the second period. In a rare act of Penn State-Ohio cooperation, Tyler Pilmore had the second assist. O'Brien was also on for Ryo Murakami's third-period goal that trimmed the US lead to 4-2, so he comes out even on the plus-minus ledger. He added two shots other than the goal and was 1-2 on faceoffs...Eric Steinour was on ice for Kranker's power play goal with 6:41 left that restored sanity after Japan had trimmed a 4-1 lead to 4-3. He had one third-period shot and a 1-1 faceoff record.

Cumulative PSU Stats               

        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM

Tim O'Brien     5   2   0   2    -1   0

Eric Steinour   5   0   0   0    -3   6

Other Games

In the 11th place game, Turkey managed to score for the second straight game, but it wasn't enough to match Sang Youp Lee's two first period goals as South Korea defeated Turkey 4-1...in a surprising result to anyone who's been playing close attention, Spanish goaltender Ander Alcaine Val was beaten seven times in just over 50 minutes as Slovenia cruised past Spain 8-0 in the 9th place game behind eight different goal scorers.

Ondrej Zosiak's power play goal goal with 6:18 left completed Slovakia's comeback from an early 2-0 hole and boosted them past the Czech Republic 3-2. The Slovaks were outshot 36-18, however goalie Peter Pus stopped 34 Czech attempts, including all 16 he faced in the third period. Slovakia moves on to face Team USA for 5th place, while the Czech Republic battles Japan for 7th.

Final Tournament Placement

1. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

2. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

3. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

4. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

5. Slovakia/USA

6. Slovakia/USA

7. Japan/Czech Republic

8. Japan/Czech Republic

9. Slovenia

10. Spain

11. South Korea

12. Turkey

Upcoming Schedule

February 5th

7th place game:
CZE-JPN 9:00 a.m.

5th place game:
USA-SVK 1:00 p.m.

Semifinals:
KAZ-BLR 9:30 a.m., CAN-RUS 1:00 p.m.

February 6th

Bronze medal game:
KAZ/BLR-CAN/RUS 4:30 a.m.

Gold medal game:
KAZ/BLR-CAN/RUS 8:00 a.m.

Women

USA Hockey recap

No point in wasting time - straight to the recap we go:

Reihl's assist helped bring the US within one

ERZURUM, Turkey – The U.S. Women's National University Team fell to Canada, 8-1, here today at the 2011 Winter World University Games. The U.S., which is competing in the women's tournament for the first time, will play in the bronze-medal game against Slovakia tomorrow (Feb. 5) at 2:30 a.m. EST.

After Canada took a 2-0 lead at the 12:46 mark of the first period, the U.S. responded with a goal to cut its deficit in half. Team USA led a rush into the offensive zone and Lindsay Reihl (Cheshire, Conn./Penn State University) fed the puck to Charlotte Hoium (Falcon Heights, Minn./Michigan State University), who sent a shot past Canadian goaltender Liz Knox.

Canada scored just :55 into the middle frame and notched two more goals to take a 5-1 lead into the third period.

Team USA killed four penalties in the final frame, but Canada scored three unanswered goals to seal the victory.

Goaltender Heather Rossi (Effort, Pa./Penn State University) made 48 saves for the U.S., while Knox and Beth Clause stopped six shots for Canada.

Hate to tell you, but there's also video - second half of this:



Penn State Update

Rossi started and finished the game in goal. She faced a tremendously adverse situation, with Canada outshooting the US by a staggering 56-7 count, but came out of it standing - despite the eight goals against, she actually improved her save percentage for the tournament. Rossi also took a charging penalty (successfully killed) in the third period. I'd love to see how that happened...Reihl assisted on Hoium's late first period goal that kept Team USA in the game, at least at the first intermission. However, she was also on ice for five Canadian goals (one on the power play) resulting in a -3 for the game. Reihl's three total points currently place her 16th in scoring by defenders at the tournament...neither Reihl nor Denise Rohlik recorded a shot on goal.

Cumulative PSU Stats                        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM
Lindsay Reihl   6   0   3   3    -7   6
Denise Rohlik   6   1   3   4    +7   0

                GP   Record    SOG   SVS  SV%    GAA    SHO
Heather Rossi   4    0-0-0-4   151   129  0.854  6.00   0
Katie Vaughan   3    2-0-0-0   21    18   0.857  1.29   1
        
Other Games

In the other semifinal matchup, Finland overpowered Slovakia 5-1 with a 42-11 shot differential. Venla Hovi scored the game-winning goal and assisted on three others to support the winning cause. The Finns are now assured of at least the silver medal and will take on Canada for the gold tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.

Final Tournament Placement

1. Canada/Finland

2. Canada/Finland

3. Slovakia/USA

4. Slovakia/USA

5. Great Britain/Turkey

6. Great Britain/Turkey

Upcoming Schedule

February 5th

Bronze medal game:
USA-SVK 2:30 a.m.

5th place game:
TUR-GBR 5:00 a.m.

Gold medal game:
FIN-CAN 6:00 a.m.

World University Games: Day 8

Men

USA Hockey recap // Box score

Heartbreaking? Absolutely. But amidst the disappointment, let's not forget how far the USA Hockey WUG program, and by extension the ACHA, has progressed even from two years ago, when beating Slovakia was a massive achievement. Or back slightly further, when even winning a single game was cause for celebration. Even though Penn State won't be part of this event next time around, I can't help but think we're leaving it in good hands.

In the meantime, Team USA still has a great shot at fifth place and a final record of 4-2-0, both of which would be bests since 2001. It starts with Japan tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. in the 5th-8th placement playoffs.

Recap:

O'Brien knows clutch, thanks to his crusty hat.

ERZURUM, Turkey – The U.S. Men's National University Team erased a two goal deficit midway through the second period, but eventually fell to Belarus, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Winter World University Games. The U.S. will face Japan tomorrow (Feb. 4) at 8 a.m. EST in the classification round.

"I'm very proud of every player on the team," said Dave Debol, head coach of the U.S. Men's National University Team. "I loved the effort, especially when we were down, 3-1. We never quit and came back to tie the game, but we just fell a little short today."

Belarus took an early 1-0 lead, but Team USA tied the score 12:22 into the first period. Bob Collar (Brighton, Mich./ Davenport University) sent a feed to Michael Macari (Dearborn Heights, Mich./ University of Michigan Dearborn), who fired a shot past Belarus goalie Stepan Goryachevskikh.

Belarus took a 3-1 second period lead, but the U.S. responded with two goals 1:19 apart to tie the game. Alan Dionne (North Scituate, R.I./ University of Rhode Island) scored at the 10:17 mark and Tim O'Brien (Bethel Park, Pa./ Penn State University) followed with a power-play goal to even the score heading into the final frame.

Belarus gained the 4-3 edge just 53 seconds into the third period and added two late goals to secure the 6-3 victory.

Team USA goaltender Dan Pyne (Warrington, Pa./ Drexel University) made 27 saves in the loss, while Goryachevskikh and Vitali Bialinksi combined to stop 22 shots in the win.

Here are highlights from all of the quarterfinal matchups from FISU - O'Brien's goal is included.



Penn State Update

As mentioned a couple of times, Tim O'Brien scored a pretty important goal that brought Team USA back to even at three in the second period - and earned Belarus starting goalie Goryachevskikh the hook. You can see it starting at 1:10 in the video just above - pretty goal. Outside of his power play marker, O'Brien was on for the mid-second period Belarus goal that put the US down 3-1, the third period 5-on-3 Belarus goal that proved to be the game winner and the empty netter that made the score 5-3 late. All of that adds up to a -2. He had four shots and a 1-1 faceoff record... Eric Steinour got into some kind of altercation with Belarussian defenseman Mikhail Kharamanda at 12:22 of the second period. Steinour got a roughing penalty, but Kharamanda got two of them, so well done Big Stein. He rated a -1 by being on ice for the early second period goal that briefly made the score 2-1 Belarus, had two shots on goal and was 1-1 on draws.

Cumulative PSU Stats               

        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM

Tim O'Brien     4   1   0   1    -1   0

Eric Steinour   4   0   0   0    -3   6

Other Games

Kazakhstan turned in a dominant effort against Japan, winning 5-1 in a game that got pretty brutal in the closing minutes (eight roughing minors handed out at the 17:58 mark of the third). Alexandr Lipin's power play goal with 19 seconds left in the second period held up as the winner...Canada earned the second semifinal slot with an also-decisive 9-1 result against Slovakia. It was once again Brandon MacLean leading the way for the neighbors to the north with a five-point effort, including two goals on the advantage...top-seeded Russia withstood a strong early challenge from the Czech Repubic and pulled away over the second half of the game to win 6-1. Also, I retract my "pretty brutal" description of KAZ-JPN above, as this one put that one to shame with 314 total penalty minutes - 272 in the last 16 minutes of the game.

These results, combined with Belarus' win over Team USA, give us semifinal pairings of Belarus-Kazakhstan and Russia-Canada.

In the 9th-12th place playoffs, Slovenia blitzed Turkey 11-1 behind pairs from Jure Miljus, Nik Lahajnar and Grega Pihler. Turkish captain Emre Elevli scored his country's first goal of the tournament (men's or women's) at 14:46 of the first period...Juan Munoz Crego scored the only goal of the shootout as Spain upended South Korea 5-4. Munoz Crego also assisted on Spain's first three goals, which does not include Alejandro Pedraz Martin's power play goal with 2:39 left to force overtime...Slovenia will now play Spain for 9th place tomorrow, while Turkey and South Korea battle for 11th.  

Final Tournament Placement

1. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

2. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

3. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

4. Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Canada

5. Slovakia/Japan/USA/Czech Republic

6. Slovakia/Japan/USA/Czech Republic

7. Slovakia/Japan/USA/Czech Republic

8. Slovakia/Japan/USA/Czech Republic

9. Slovenia/Spain

10. Slovenia/Spain

11. South Korea/Turkey

12. South Korea/Turkey

Upcoming Schedule

February 4th

11th place game:

TUR-KOR 4:00 a.m.

9th place game:

ESP-SLO 5:00 a.m.

5th-8th placement playoffs:
USA-JPN 8:00 a.m., CZE-SVK 12:00 p.m.

February 5th

7th place game:
USA/JPN-CZE/SVK 9:00 a.m.

5th place game:
USA/JPN-CZE/SVK 1:00 p.m.

Semifinals:
KAZ-BLR 9:30 a.m., CAN-RUS 1:00 p.m.

February 6th

Bronze medal game:
KAZ/BLR-CAN/RUS 4:30 a.m.

Gold medal game:
KAZ/BLR-CAN/RUS 8:00 a.m.

Women

The women's field enjoyed their final off day of the tournament ahead of tomorrow's semifinals and Saturday's gold, bronze and fifth-place games. Team USA had a practice ice time scheduled 2:00-2:45 a.m.

Cumulative PSU Stats                        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM
Lindsay Reihl   5   0   2   2    -4   6
Denise Rohlik   5   1   3   4    +7   0

                GP   Record    SOG   SVS  SV%    GAA    SHO
Heather Rossi   3    0-0-0-3   95    81   0.853  5.25   0
Katie Vaughan   3    2-0-0-0   21    18   0.857  1.29   1
        
Upcoming Schedule

February 4th
Semifinals:
SVK-FIN 9:00 a.m., USA-CAN 1:00 p.m.

February 5th

Bronze medal game:
SVK/FIN-USA/CAN 2:30 a.m.

5th place game:
TUR-GBR 5:00 a.m.

Gold medal game:
SVK/FIN-USA/CAN 6:00 a.m.

Payday Memorabilia: Lukas DeLorenzo WUG jersey

Sticking with the World University Games theme that's been so prevalent here over the last week-plus and in honor of Team USA's quarterfinal tilt with Belarus in a few hours, this week's Payday Memorabilia is a replica of the jersey former Icer Lukas DeLorenzo wore at the 2009 event in Harbin, China.

Before I go any further, I want to offer an unpaid endorsement for IceJerseys, the people who helped me put this together. If you're a true jersey nerd like myself, you'll appreciate the fact that they're also jersey nerds who are insane about details and able to customize more than just current NHL styles. Check them out, you won't regret it.

Basically, my starting point was DeLo's shootout winner against Slovakia in group play, which looked something like this.

I'd always wanted a Team USA jersey, and figured hey, why not get one of a Penn Stater who was part of a big moment in an international competition? So I scoured the internet for pictures, but unfortunately had little luck beyond this USA Hockey photo gallery. Among the best pictures from that:

Hey, that's Jamie Zimmel!

From these, I concluded that the team was wearing jerseys modeled after the old Nikes worn by the silver-medal winning US team at the 2002 Olympics, and in a few other competitions from that era. Next stop: eBay, to find someone selling a blank one of those in 2009, which I found for about $15 after a couple months. After that, it was off to the post office to mail it to the Montreal area with instructions to "do it like the 2002 Olympic team." A few weeks later it came back as you see it at the top of the post, complete with DeLorenzo's No. 19 that he wore in the WUG and the A on the front, as he was an alternate captain on the team as well.

PS. If you're another jersey nerd reading this, I know it's not a perfect match. For starters, the WUG team wasn't wearing Nikes, just K1s meant to look like Nikes. Which of course means no swoosh on the front for the WUG version, and no star shoulder patches. Also, the numbers on the WUG jerseys, to me, look to be a little thicker and cut slightly differently. But until you can do it better based on the information available, don't hate.

World University Games: Day 7

Women

USA Hockey recap // Box score

Team USA locked down the final semifinal bid in the women's tournament by whipping Great Britain 8-1. Lots of goals to talk about, so let's hit the recap.

Captain Rumsey had a goal and an assist.

ERZURUM, Turkey – Ramey Weaver (Eagle River, Alaska/ Robert Morris University Illinois) scored the game-winning goal and collected an assist, as the U.S. Women's National University Team earned an 8-1 win over Great Britain here today at the 2011 Winter World University Games. With the victory, the U.S. improved to 2-0-0-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and advanced to the semifinal round on Friday (Feb. 4).

"It looked like we had more jump in our step today, so we're back on track and feeling great," said Mo Stroemel, head coach of the 2011 U.S. Women's National University Team. "We'll relish this for a little while and then get ready for the next game."

Team USA opened the scoring just 46 seconds into the first period while on the power play. Weaver passed the puck to Megan Winters (Basking Ridge, N.J./ Northeastern University), who fired a slap shot from the high slot that beat Great Britain goalie Laura Saunders for the early lead.

Midway through the opening frame, Weaver scored the eventual game-winning goal on a feed from Ashley Rumsey (West Olive, Mich./ Grand Valley State University).

Great Britain scored early in the second period, but Team USA responded with two quick goals just 39 seconds apart to gain a 4-1 advantage. Following a Shea Crawford (Selbyville, Del./ Lindenwood University) 4-on-4 tally, Rumsey notched her second point of the game off a rebound after Allysson Arcibal's (Vista, Calif./ Lindenwood University) initial shot was blocked away by Saunders.

Just over three minutes later, Terra Payne (Gaylord, Mich./ Michigan State University) extended the U.S. lead to 5-1 heading into the final frame.

Charlotte Hoium (Falcon Heights, Minn./ Michigan State University) notched a a power-play goal early in the third period and Christina Young (Stafford, Va./ Michigan State University) followed with a goal 48 seconds later off a slap shot from the point to put Team USA ahead, 7-1.

Sarah Jensen (Albert Lea, Minn./ South Dakota State University) finished off the scoring with just under six minutes remaining in regulation.

Katie Vaughan (South Park, Pa./ Penn State University) made 11 saves in the win for the U.S., while Saunders stopped 43 shots in the loss for Great Britain.

Penn State Update

Both Lindsay Reihl and Denise Rohlik contributed to the win with a primary assist. Rohlik's was first, on Payne's late second-period even strength marker that made the score 5-1. Reihl's came on the next US goal, a power play tally by Hoium...both players earned a +1 rating for the game, as Reihl was also on ice for Jensen's goal with 5:55 left that capped the scoring...Rohlik registered two shots on goal, Reihl one...Reihl started and was once again paired with Lindenwood's Crawford...Vaughan was the starting goalie today and continued her strong tournament with stops on 11 of 12 shots. You can see her overall stat line just below - it's good.

Cumulative PSU Stats                        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM
Lindsay Reihl   5   0   2   2    -4   6
Denise Rohlik   5   1   3   4    +7   0

                GP   Record    SOG   SVS  SV%    GAA    SHO
Heather Rossi   3    0-0-0-3   95    81   0.853  5.25   0
Katie Vaughan   3    2-0-0-0   21    18   0.857  1.29   1
        
Other Games

Finland earned the No. 2 seed going into the semifinals by pounding Slovakia 7-0 behind Saara Tuominen's five points (2 goals, 3 assists) and an 11-save shutout from Anna Vanhatalo...Candice Styles scored three times, while Ellie Seedhouse and Breanne George each added two as the Canadians clinched the No. 1 seed with an 11-0 win over Turkey. Turkey has yet to score a goal in the tournament on either the women's or men's side of things.

Final Standings

     GP  W   OTW OTL L   PTS GF:GA

CAN  5   4   1   0   0   14  39:1

FIN  5   4   0   1   0   13  49:3

SVK  5   3   0   0   2   9   33:11

USA  5   2   0   0   3   6   25:18  
GBR  5   1   0   0   4   3   11:36
TUR  5   0   0   0   5   0    0:88

Upcoming Schedule

February 3rd
No games.

February 4th
Semifinals:
SVK-FIN 9:00 a.m., USA-CAN 1:00 p.m.

February 5th

Bronze medal game:
SVK/FIN-USA/CAN 2:30 a.m.

5th place game:
TUR-GBR 5:00 a.m.

Gold medal game:
SVK/FIN-USA/CAN 6:00 a.m.

Men

For the first (and only) time all tournament, there were no men's games today as the teams prepare for the quarterfinals tomorrow.

Cumulative PSU Stats               

        

                GP  G   A   PTS  +/-  PIM

Tim O'Brien     3   0   0   0    +1   0

Eric Steinour   3   0   0   0    -2   4

Upcoming Schedule

February 3rd

9th-12th place playoffs:

TUR-SLO 4:00 a.m., KOR-ESP 5:00 a.m.

Quarterfinals:

SVK-CAN 8:00 a.m., JPN-KAZ 8:00 a.m., USA-BLR 12:00 p.m., CZE-RUS 12:00 p.m.

February 4th

11th place game:

TUR/SLO-KOR/ESP 4:00 a.m.

9th place game:

TUR/SLO-KOR/ESP 5:00 a.m.

5th-8th place playoffs 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

February 5th

7th place game 9:00 a.m., 5th place game 1:00 p.m., semifinals 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

February 6th

Bronze medal game 4:30 a.m., gold medal game 8:00 a.m.