Team USA continued to rack up goals (36 points) and won (5-0) at the World Junior Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. Head coach David Karl is currently leading the USA to the semifinals against Finland on Thursday, January 4th.
BC’s Drew Fortescue scored 1:31 into the first period to give the USA an early lead. Ten minutes later, another BC sniper, Gabe Perreault, gave the Americans a 2-0 lead. The USA ended the first period following a goal from the University of Michigan’s Seamus Casey and held a 3-1 lead at the first intermission.
Rutger McGroarty, another Michigander, scored in the second period to give the Yanks a 4-1 lead. Will Smith (B.C.’s Fresh Prince) and Perrault gave the Americans a commanding 6-1 lead at the end of the second period.
The third period ended without incident with both teams scoring goals. University of Minnesota’s Oliver Miller won 7-1. Latvia scored the winning goal in the third, cutting the gap to five points and ending the game with a score of 7-2 in favor of the United States.
The other shocker in the quarterfinals was Canada losing 3-2 to the Czech Republic on a goal with 11 seconds left in regulation time. Switzerland pushed Sweden into OT, but the tournament organizers withdrew it. If the U.S. can get past Finland on Thursday, the tournament could very well end with a U.S.-Sweden final. All Team USA games are available to watch on NHL Network.
