“This was a very hard-fought game,” said Ben Smith, head coach of Team USA. “Switzerland is a very solid team and we hung right with them for 65 minutes. I’m just really proud of the way our team responded to each other and the way they played together this whole tournament.”

After a scoreless first period, Switzerland tallied the game’s first goal at 4:45 of the second stanza. Florian Blatter picked up the puck after streaking out of the penalty box and fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle that beat Curry high-glove side.

Dwight Helminen (Hancock, Mich.) tied the score, 1-1, just 2:11 later after he collected Ryan Vesce’s (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) rebound and tapped it past goaltender Ronnie Rueger. Thibaut Monnet put the Swiss back on top with a slap shot that beat Curry at 14:57.

Just 1:04 into the third frame, Vesce knotted the score, 2-2. Eric Nickulas (Hyannis, Mass.) sent a pass from the left side across to Vesce who flipped the puck over the outstretched glove of Rueger. The score remained tied at the end of regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Curry turned aside all seven shots he saw in the overtime period. With the score still even at 2-2, the game went to a shootout.

Switzerland’s first shooter Patrick Bartschi beat Curry to give his team a 1-0 advantage. Curry would not allow another goal, but Team USA was unable to solve Rueger in the shootout as Switzerland earned the Deutschland Cup title.

NOTES: Ryan Vesce was named U.S. Player of the Game … Tim Stapleton (LaGrange, Ill.) led Team USA with three points (2-1) in the tournament ... A complete box score for this game is available at www.usahockey.com.