PLYMOUTH, MI - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (31-14-0-1, 63 pts) fell 4-3 on Friday night to the USA NTDP U18 (10-4-0-1, 21 pts) to open up a weekend series.

The Fighting Saints scored first for the fourth-straight game on Friday when Colin Frank set up Teddy Merrill's fifth of the year to put Dubuque up 1-0 after just 1:53. Despite the early lead, the Saints could not capitalize on the momentum from the early goal. 

USA scored just 1:03 later with Will Moore before Cole McKinney gave USA a 2-1 lead at 5:24 of the first. It was McKinney's first of two with the second extending the USA lead to 3-1 just past the halfway point in regulation.

The Saints had a pair of power-play chances to try and tie the game following McKinney's first goal, but couldn't score. After USA extended the lead to 3-1, Josh Giuliani capitalized on a one-timer setup by former NTDP players Lucas Van Vliet and Cole Spicer.

Within one, Dubuque again couldn't capitalize on its momentum and USA extended its lead again. With just 14.6 seconds left in the second period, the U18s extended their lead again with a Drew Schock IV goal.

Again, the Saints pushed back on the power play early in the third. Spicer converted on a rebound for his sixth goal, finishing his fifth multi-point game in the last 11 games.

The Saints finished the contest with 38 shots, including outshooting the U18s 14-4 in the third period. Harrison Boettiger stopped 35 for USA, while Jan Špunar made 23 saves on 27 shots.

Dubuque's power play continued its recent success with the pair of goals on four chances, while the Saints killed the only penalty they faced.

The Saints and U18s finish their weekend series on Saturday in their last meeting of the regular season.