PIESTANY, Slovakia – Zac Larraza (Scottsdale, Ariz.) notched two assists, while Cole Bardreau (Fairport, N.Y.), Alex Gacek (Dracut, Mass.) and Travis Boyd (Hopkins, Minn.) each scored for the U.S. National Under-17 Team as it dropped a 5-3 decision to host Slovakia here today in the finale of the 2010 Vlad Dzurilla Under-18 Tournament.

A pair of power-play goals helped Slovakia get out to a 2-0 lead after the half-way point of the first period. Dominik Simcak opened the scoring at 11:48, while Juraj Roznik beat netminderMatt McNeely (Burnsville, Minn.) at 15:44. Bardreau answered back for the U.S. just 36 seconds later to cut the deficit in half after converting on a feed from Larraza.

Lukas Cingel scored an unassisted marker 7:44 into the middle stanza to give Slovakia a 3-1 advantage. Gacek narrowed the gap just 2:34 later after he took a pass from Michael Vilardo(Geneva, Ill.) and fired the puck past netminder Dominik Riecicky. Once again, Slovakia pulled ahead by two when Tomas Matousek netted a power-play tally at 16:06.

Boyd made it 4-3 for Team USA with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 7:51 of the third period. Larraza and Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) picked up assists on the play. The U.S. continued to battle or the game-tying goal, but Cingel gave Slovakia the 5-3 advantage with just 4:59 remaining in regulation. Despite Team USA's 18 shots in the final frame, Boyd's power-play goal was all the scoring the U.S. received as Riecicky made 17 saves to thwart the relentless attack.

McNeely turned aside 33 shots on the afternoon.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team will return to its United States Hockey League schedule Friday when it meets East Division-foe Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at 7:05 p.m. EST at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

NOTES: Zac Larraza was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Alex Gacek led the U.S. with four points (2-2) in the tournament ... Three players finished with three points each for second on the U.S. leaderboard, including Michael Vilardo (2-1--3), Larraza (1-2--3) andRobbie Russo (0-3--3) ... Team USA finished the Vlad Dzurilla with an 0-0-1-2 record.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: 1, SVK, Simicak (Trska, Mihalik), 11:48 (pp); 2, SVK, Roznik (Trska, Marincin), 15:44 (pp); 3, USA, Bardreau (Larraza), 16:20. Penalties: SVK, Trska (holding), 8:58; USA, Larraza (slashing), 10:55; USA, Biggs (charging), 15:08; USA, Kuraly (boarding), 16:20.

Second Period - Scoring: 4, SVK, Cingel (unassisted), 7:44; 5, USA, Gacek (Vilardo, Paliotta), 10:18; 6, SVK, Matousek (Cingel, Cajkovsky), 16:06 (pp). Penalties: SVK, Styk (tripping), 5:09; USA, Biggs (cross-checking), 11:29; SVK, Marincin (interference), 12:54; USA, McCabe (hooking), 15:17; USA, Biggs (head-butting), 18:20; USA, Biggs (misconduct), 18:20.

Third Period - Scoring: 7, USA, Boyd (Larraza, Russo), 7:51 (5x3 pp); 8, SVK, Cingel (Roznik, Trska), 15:01. Penalties: SVK, Pokovic (delay of game), 5:53; SVK, Marincin (slashing), 17:14; SVK, Cajkovsky (boarding), 17:09; USA, Bardreau (roughing), 18:16; USA, Bardreau (misconduct), 18:16; SVK, Simcak, 18:16.