2011-12 National Women's Under-18 Team

UNITED STATES SCORES THREE GOALS IN FIRST PERIOD TO TOP CANADA 3-2 IN GAME 1

ROCKLAND, Ont. - Anne Pankowski scored at just 1:03 into the game, while Kaliya Johnson quickly followed suit and Paige Savage added another with less than a minute remaining in the period, to help give the United States a big first period Thursday night against Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team.

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Meghan Dufault (Winnipeg, Man.) scored a pair of powerplay goals on what was an encouraging performance by Canada's special teams. Canada's penalty killing stopped all five American power-play attempts.

“The U.S. has a lot of speed and they can finish around the net well, so we have to watch our (defensive) zone and then we'll be good,'' Dufault said.

The game was the first in a three-game exhibition series following a selection camp held in Rockland, at the newly built Canadian International Hockey Academy. This was Canada's first game following cuts made at the camp, and head coach Pierre Alain found positives to take away from the close loss.

“System-wise I think we were pretty good,'' Alain said. “We didn't give up any goals on the penalty kill and we scored on the powerplay, so those two phases were good.”

Alain said some lineup changes will come before Friday's game, as he experiments with line combinations to get the right chemistry. He also said Canada needs to improve its play in the neutral zone, particularly guarding against American tip-ins into the Canadian end.

Both Alain and Dufault said that Canada needs to send more pucks flying at the American goaltender in the next game.

“I think we controlled most of the game today,” Dufault said. “We need to get more shots on net and finish around the net more.''

The camp and series is the start of preparation for the 2012 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship, taking place in the Czech Republic next January.

While Canada and the United States are the traditional powers at the tournament, Alain said other teams have stepped up recently.

“I think Sweden and Finland have progressed and I think Germany was better last year,” he said. “Those three teams have really improved.”

Goals/Buts :
01:02 USA Anne Pankowski (Dani Cameranesi)
13:16 USA Kaliya Johnson (Anne Pankowski)
17:58 CAN Meghan Dufault (Erin Ambrose, Nicole Connery) PP/AN
19:03 USA Paige Savage (Alex Carpenter, Courtney Burke)

Penalties/Pénalités :
01:23 USA Dana Trivigno (Body-checking/Mise en échec corporelle)
07:26 USA Lee Stecklein (Holding/Retenir)
09:46 USA Jordan Hampton (Hitting from behind/Mise en échec par-derrière)
09:46 USA Jordan Hampton (Hitting from behind/Mise en échec par-derrière)
14:00 CAN Jordan Krause (Interference/Obstruction)
17:12 USA Sidney Peters (Interference/Obstruction

Goals/Buts :
None/Aucun

Penalties/Pénalités :
04:29 CAN Alexis Crossley (Hooking/Accrocher)
17:02 CAN Nicole Connery (Holding/Retenir)

Goals/Buts :
11:53 CAN Meghan Dufault (Nicole Connery, Shannon MacAulay) PP/AN

Penalties/Pénalités :
18:48 USA Haley Skarupa (Hooking/Accrocher)
15:35 CAN Halli Krzyzaniuk (Body-checking/Mise en échec corporelle)
11:02 USA Dani Cameranesi (Hooking/Accrocher)
16:03 CAN Cayley Mercer (Interference/Obstruction)