Canada East, USA to play for 2022 World Junior A Challenge gold

CORNWALL, Ont. – Canada East and the United States will play for gold at the World Junior A Challenge on Sunday after taking victories in Cornwall on Saturday.

USA beat Canada East 7-2 on Wednesday in the first meeting between the two teams earlier in the week.

East has never won gold, while USA looks to win for the ninth time in tournament history. Sweden and Canada West will play for bronze earlier in the day, with West looking to avenge their 5-3 loss to the Swedes on Thursday.

Canada East capitalized on some first-half scoring chances to take a 3-0 lead at one point. Matthew Cato scored two goals for East, including a power-play marker in the first and a mid-second goal to double the advantage. Massimo Gentile then scored shortly after to make it 3-0 from the slot, a lead that would remain safe for the remainder of the game.

Canada West put in an excellent third-period effort, though, with Aiden Fink finding Liam Watkins early in the frame to get the team on the board. It didn’t do much to spark the comeback, though, as Ryan Johnstone’s empty-netter and Ethan Morrow’s fantastic play in East’s net helped secure the 4-1 win.

In the later game, a power-play goal by Tanner Ludtke near the end oof a second straight power play put USA up 1-0. The score would remain favorable for the Americans for the remainder of the first, but Edvin Nilsson scored at 21:46 to make it 1-1.

Four minutes later, Tom Willander’s point shot went off an American defender in front and gave Sweden the 2-1 lead, only for Anton Wahlberg to find the back of the net with a wrister at 33:38.

A pair of power-play goals put USA back into the contest. At 37:17, Eric Pohlkamp took a one-timer off of a Sam Rinzel pass to make it 3-2, only to do the exact same thing two minutes later to tie it up. The Swedes had some chances, but Cole Knuble’s wrap-around goal at 48:50 gave USA the 4-3 lead, an advantage that would stick until the final buzzer.