The U.S. National Women’s U18 Team stunned the Czech Republic last night with a 3-0 victory in the IIHF U18 World Championship, during which goaltender Brittany Bugalski made eight saves.

Alex Woken notched the game’s first point when she found the back of the net 3:38 into the first period. The goal came after a breakaway pass from Mekenzie Steffen and the puck sailed past Czech Republic goaltender Katerina Zechovka.

The U.S. took a 2-0 lead in the third when Samantha Davis passed to Caitrin Lonergan, who was later named Player of the Game, beat Zechovka. With 24 seconds left in the third, Melissa Samoskevich would make the score 3-0 after the Czechs attempted to clear and she picked up the puck.

“I was really pleased with our effort and I thought we played very well tonight,” said Joel Johnson, head coach of the U.S. National U18 Team. “The Czech Republic had a good game plan against us and their goalie played well.”

Lonergan said Zechovka played well and the U.S. got some lucky bounces.

“I think we played great and we will just keep better from here,” she said.

Alternate Captain Sammy Davis said the team is buzzing with positive energy after the game.

“We only get to wear this jersey so many times, it’s an honor wearing this jersey,” she said.

The U.S. out-shout the Czechs 34-8 in the contest. The team beat Canada 2-1 in a shootout on Monday, and now stands in first place in Group A with five points.

Team USA will face Russia on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. ET to close out the preliminary round play. The game will be broadcast on FastHockey.com.

Quarterfinals will be Jan. 9 and semifinals are slated for Jan. 11. Medal games will be Jan. 12.

A college hockey fan and hockey player, Krista Patronick decided to pursue a career in sports management after earning a degree in English from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell in 2009 and spending three years in journalism. She received her Master's of Sports Management from Southern New Hampshire University in 2013. After realizing she was meant to work in the hockey world, Krista went to work in any press box she could get into. She kept statistics, wrote shot charts, tweeted and live-blogged her way to a job as an operations coordinator and marketing director at The Hockey Academy in Hudson, N.H. She works with the company's two junior teams, adult hockey players, and youth teams. Krista is a goalie and enjoys playing hockey in her spare time. She is a die-hard Bruins and River Hawks hockey fan. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @KristaPatronick

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