NUREMBERG, Germany - July 26, 2002
Team USA Claims Fifth Place With 8-6 Victory Against Slovakia At IIHF In-Line Hockey World Championships

The USA Hockey InLine National Team (3-3-0) defeated Slovakia by an 8-6 margin to claim fifth place at the 2002 International Ice Hockey Federation In-Line Hockey World Championships.
Slovakia led, 5-4, halfway though the game, but the U.S. rallied from the one-goal deficit, allowing only one more goal and scoring two tallies in each of the remaining two stanzas for the 8-6 victory.

Defenseman Josh Milewski (Costa Mesa, Calif.) first put the U.S. on the board early in the first quarter with help from forwards Kyle Amant (Modesto, Calif.) and Pat Lee (Schaumburg, Ill.).
Leading the rest of Team USA's offense were defenseman David Brito (San Diego, Calif.) with two goals and four assists; captain Boyd Sutton (Solodotna, Alaska), who notched two goals and two assists; and forward Jason Deskins (Warren, Mich.) with a hat trick and three assists.

In his fourth consecutive start of the tournament and fifth overall, Team USA goalie Jeff Reynaert (Sterling Heights, Mich.) earned his third international victory, turning aside 33 of 39 shots.

Earlier today, Slovenia defeated Austria, 8-5, in the seventh-place game.
The A-Pool semifinals, featuring Germany vs. Sweden and Finland vs. Czech Republic; and the B-Pool semifinals, comprised of Japan vs. New Zealand and Great Britain vs. Hungary, are scheduled for later today and will determine the matchups for tomorrow's medal games.