Aug. 8, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame sophomore-to-be center Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.) has been named to the 31-player roster for the 2000 USA Hockey Summer Challenge team, which will compete against under-20 select teams from Finland and Switzerland from Aug. 7-13 at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Dunlop is one of 11 veteran college players named to the team and one of six veterans from the 1999-2000 U.S. National Junior Team. The other junior national team veterans include goaltender Rick DiPietro (Boston University), defenseman Ron Hainsey (U-Mass Lowell) and forwards John Sabo (BU), Jeff Taffe (Minnesota) and Brad Winchester (Wisconsin).
Dunlop helped the United States open play at the Summer Challenge with a 4-2 win on Monday over Switzerland. Rob Globke gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, after breaking free down low and knocking home a pass from Gregg Johnson. Four minutes later, Taffe set up a power-play goal by Troy Riddle.
Switzerland converted on a face off early in the second period but Matt Hendricks answered with another U.S. power-play goal early in the third period, with Globke and Johnson providing the assists. Switzerland forged a 4-3 game with its own power-play score but Marc Cavosic closed the scoring 31 seconds later, with an assist from Taffe.
Craig Kowalski picked up the win in net, with 23 saves. The U.S. held a 26-25 edge in shots on goal and converted 2-of-5 power plays (the Swiss were 1-of-4).
Team USA returns to the ice on Wednesday for a game against Finland.
Other veteran college players on the team include: forwards Cavosic (Rensselaer), Jon DiSalvantore (Providence) and Dan Welch (Minnesota) and defensemen Matt DeMarchi (Minnesota) and Brian Fahey (Wisconsin). The 31-player squad also includes several players who are set to begin their college careers in 2000-2001.
A complete USA Summer Challenge team roster can be found at www.usahockey.com.