DiPietro Blanks Slovaks, 1-0
December 29, 1999 | Men's Ice Hockey
Terrier freshman goalie Rick DiPietro (Winthrop, Mass.), who has been spending the holiday season in Sweden with the U.S. Junior Team, rather than in Duluth, MN with his B.U. teammates, continues to be a bright spot for the U.S. Team at the World Junior Championships.
On Tuesday (December 28th), he turned aside all 27 shots by the Slovaks in the 1-0 win for Team USA. It improved the team's record to 1-0-1 with its next game coming on Wednesday (December 29th) against Finland. Faceoff is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Their final game of the first round for the U.S. will be played at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday (December 31st).
The U.S.'s win over the Slovaks marked only the fifth time in the 23-year history that the U.S. was able to shut out its opponent.
For his efforts, DiPietro was named the outstanding player of the U.S. team. It marked the third straight game in which DiPietro has earned the honor. In the opening game of the tournament for the U.S., the freshman goalie had 27 saves in a 1-1 overtime tie against the Czech Republic on Sunday, December 26th.
He was also the U.S.'s top player in the 2-2 tie against Sweden in an exhibition matchup played the day before the tournament began.
DiPietro, who compiled a 7-2-1 record along with 2.48 GAA and a .913 save percentage for the Terriers during the first semester, is one of four Terriers on the U.S. Junior Team. The other three are sophomore center Dan Cavanaugh (Springfield, Mass.), freshman right wing John Sabo (Harding Township, NJ), and sophomore defenseman Pat Aufiero (Winchester, Mass.)
The four are expected back in action for the Terriers when they travel to Boston College on January 8th.
For more on the World Junior Tournament, you can go to USA hockey's web sitewww.usahockey.com.
