By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – Mitchell Mattson posted a career-high three points, which included his second multi-goal game of the season, but Team USA scored three times in the third period to skate past the Thunder, 7-3, on Sunday evening at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
After posting a goal on Saturday night, Mattson continued his recent scoring binge by factoring into all three goals on Sunday, helping the Thunder (17-16-3-1, 38 pts) trim a pair of two-goal deficits down to one. But after Mattson’s goal with six seconds left in the middle period got the Thunder within 4-3, Team USA (16-19-1-1, 34 pts) struck just 38 seconds into the third on Brady Tkachuk’s second goal of the night and didn’t look back the rest of the way.
Logan Cockerill, who opened the scoring at the 2:56 mark of the first period, paced the U18s with his three-point night that included two goals and an assist, and Grant Mismash also added two tallies to help propel the highest scoring offense in the USHL.
Mattson drew the Thunder even in the first period with his first goal of the night, as he buzzed a snap shot past Team USA goaltender Dylan St. Cyr with 13:12 left in the period. After Team USA scored twice to go up 3-1, Mattson started the scoring sequence on Vlad Dzhioshvili’s power-play goal near the end of the frame to pull the Thunder back within one.
When the U18s scored near the halfway point of the second, it was Mattson who again played a hand in whittling the lead down to one again at the end of the period. The Grand Rapids, Minnesota, native redirected Marko Reifenberger’s initial feed from the slot past St. Cyr for his 10th point in his last eight games. Mattson now has three multi-point games in that stretch.
The Thunder travel to Fargo, North Dakota, next weekend for a two-game series with the Fargo Force on Friday and Saturday night. Bloomington then returns home in two weeks for a two-game set with the Youngstown Phantoms on Feb. 9-10.
