Hockey: Oleksiak debuts with U.S. National Junior roster at RPI Northeastern freshman defenseman Jamie Oleksiak took his first step to making the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team roster on Sunday afternoon.
Northeastern freshman defenseman Jamie Oleksiak took his first step to making the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team roster on Sunday afternoon as the squad of U.S candidates lost to the Rensselaer men's ice hockey team, 4-3, in a shootout at Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y.
Oleksiak skated opposite Boston College blue liner Brian Dumoulin last night in his debut. The 6’7 skater finished with a -1 rating but showed promise throughout the contest.
Sunday’s game was the first of three pre-tournament games designed to prepare the U.S. National Junior Team for the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, which will take place Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Buffalo, N.Y. Of the 29 players invited to the pre-tournament camp, 22 will be selected to the final U.S. roster.
Team USA struck first on a tally from Chris Brown (University of Michigan) just 1:29 into the game, but the Engineers stormed back and netted the next two goals to start the second frame. Team USA knotted the game on a tab from Emerson Etem at 9:48 of the second. Brown tallied his second of the game with seven seconds remaining in the second period, but RPI’s Bo Dolan blasted one at 17:17 to force the shootout.
After a scoreless extra frame, RPI needed 12 shootout rounds to defeat Team USA, as Jerry D’Amigo failed to convert on the final shot.
Team USA throttled Rensselaer in overall shots, 37-19, including an 18-7 advantage after the first period. RPI’s Allen York made 34 stops while Team USA’s Jack Campbell made 12 saves in 31:58 of action. Andy Iles (Cornell University) relieved Campbell and earned the tie, making four saves in 33:02.
Team USA will play its next pre-tournament game on Tuesday, Dec. 21, against the Czech Republic at The Sports Centre at MCC in Rochester, N.Y. The game, to be webcast live on FASTHockey.USAHockey.com, will start at 7 p.m. EST.
