PLYMOUTH, Mich. - The Lake Superior State hockey program fell to the United States National Team Development Program Under-18 (USNTDP U-18) squad by a final score of 5-2 in the final preseason exhibition contest.

The Lakers opened up the contest appearing to physically overmatch their opponents for the first few minutes, and despite not having a goal to show for it, they earned quality chances, including an attempt from Louis Boudon (Grenoble, France) that bounced off the corner of the post and the crossbar. However, the U-18s were able to take the puck and get on the board first with a score from Notre Dame commit Carter Slaggert at the 5:51 mark. The defenses would hold firm for most of the remainder of the period, but with 50 seconds remaining before the first intermission, Nathan Tobey found Gabe Perreault on a long pass to make it a 2-0 score going into the break.

The Lakers began the second period down a man due to a penalty from the end of the first, but shortly after Jared Kucharek (Royal Oak, Mich.) stepped out of the box, he finished off a play that Grant Hindman (Oakland, Mich.) and Harrison Roy (Lakeville, Mass.) started to earn his first point since the 2019-20 season with Western Michigan. However, Boston College commit Ryan Leonard answered shortly after, and Perreault would tack on one more for the U-18s on a power play before the period came to an end.

Midway through the third period, Slaggert was able to get one more for the development program to put them up 5-1. A few minutes later, the Lakers snagged some momentum as Timo Bakos (Augsburg, Germany) found himself in the right place at the right time to slot in a deflection after a shot from Dawson Tritt (Spokane, Wash.) went off the goaltender, capitalizing on a power play.

The Lakers will now turn their attention to their regular season opener on Friday, Oct. 14 when they host the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks in Taffy Abel Arena with the first puck drop scheduled for 7:07 p.m.