A trio of Northland natives are playing for fifth place in the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup after the USA U-18 men's hockey team fell 7-3 to the Czech Republic on Wednesday in Breclav, Czech Republic, to close out pool play.
The Czechs set the tone with a goal 34 seconds into the game, before sinking the Americans with three third-period tallies.
Grand Rapids natives Blake McLaughlin and Gavin Hain combined for a third-period power-play goal, with McLaughlin redirecting a wrist shot from Hain, but the USA power play was unable to build off that, finishing 1-for-5 with the extra skater. Duluth's Ryder Donovan is also a member of the U.S. team.
Team USA faces Finland in the fifth-place game at 8:30 a.m. today in Breclav.
