San Juan Capistrano, CA - June 15 - The Team USA Men defeated China 18-10 last night in an exhibition match at JSerra High School. Ben Stevenson and Kacper Langiewicz scored four goals each while Drew Holland notched seven saves in net. A replay of the game can be accessed on Overnght.com.
In the opening quarter of the game, China got on the board first via a penalty shot from Zhongxian Chen. Over four minutes later, Tyler Abramson and Marko Vavic deposited a pair of natural goals to push the United States in front. China evened the score with a shot from Yu Liu before the break to make this game a 2-2 tie after one.
Stevenson and Langiewicz began their strong nights with back-to-back goals for the Americans to open the second period. Team USA continued with Jake Ehrhardt and Jackson Painter (2) powering in three more for a five-goal cushion. With 0:35 to play in the second, Jinpeng Zhang converted on a man-up advantage for the Chinese and the USA Men held a 7-3 halftime lead.
The United States put any doubt to bed in the third period, scoring seven times against three for China. Langiewicz and Stevenson began this quarter just like the last with each of their second scores before Dingsong Shen found the back of the net for China. From there, Team USA put five consecutive goals home to widen the margin of victory. Langiewicz, Vavic, Stevenson, Ehrhardt, and Tommy Gruwell turned the advantage into a ten-goal difference before Zhangxin Hu and Rui Chen scored late to make the score 14-6 in favor of the Americans after three periods.
To start the final frame, Ehrhardt and Stevenson splashed home two for Team USA. Liu buried a goal for China midway through the quarter and then Quinn Woodhead did the same for the United States. With a ten goal margin late in the fourth, Chufeng Zhang (2) and Rui Chen scored for China before Langiewicz put the finishing touches on the big win, 18-10.
Scoring - Stats via 6-8 Sports
USA 18 (2, 5, 7, 4) B. Stevenson 4, K. Langiewicz 4, J. Ehrhardt 3, M. Vavic 2, J. Painter 2, T. Abramson 1, T. Gruwell 1, Q. Woodhead 1
CHN 10 (2, 1, 3, 4) R. Chen 2, Y. Liu 2, C. Zhang 2, Z. Hu 1, J. Zhang 1, D. Shen 1, Z. Chen 1
Penalties: USA 2/2, CHN 1/1
6-on-5: USA 4/7, CHN 2/4
Saves: USA 13 (D. Holland 7, J. Turner 6), CHN 8 (H. Wu 5, Z. Liang 3)
