Wisconsin Soccer Central

Muskego's Andrija Novakovich made quite an impact in his first matches with the U.S. Under-17 team.

The 6-foot-4 striker scored in all three games as the U.S. team beat Japan, Croatia and a local all-star team to win the Niigata Tournament this weekend in Japan.

Novakovich, who has committed to Marquette for the 2014 season, marked his first international appearance with a 49th-minute equalizer as the U.S. rallied past Japan 2-1 on Saturday. On Sunday, he gave the Americans the lead against Croatia in the seventh minute and three goals in the final 15 minutes led to a 4-2 victory.

He closed out the tournament with a 60th-minute goal that opened the scoring in a 2-0 win over the Niigata All-Stars, just four minutes after coming into the match. Novakovich ended up sharing the goal-scoring lead for the U.S. at the event with fellow forward Rubio Rubin of Beaverton, Ore.

Scoring goals is nothing new for Novakovich: He had 41 for the Muskego High School team last fall as he was named the Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year, then added 22 in 19 matches for the Chicago Magic PSG in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy – he ranked third in the nation in goals, and his average of 1.16 per game was second.

Both Japan and Croatia have qualified for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in October in the United Arab Emirates; the U.S. didn't qualify, marking the first time the Americans won't play in the event.

• Tosaint Ricketts (UW-Green Bay) and Canada closed out their disappointing run at the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 0-0 tie against Panama on Sunday in Denver. Ricketts came on the 59th minute for the Canadians, who needed to win to have a chance to advance to the quarterfinals of the regional championship. Three days earlier, Ricketts played the second half as Canada dropped a 2-0 decision to Mexico in Seattle. The team didn't score in its three Gold Cup games and is 0-7-2 in its past nine matches. New coach Benito Floro takes over the program on Aug. 1.