USA cruises to world junior semifinal with big win over Germany
The United States of America has cruised easily to the World Junior Championship semifinal in Halifax after a big 11-1 victory over Germany on Monday.
USA’s victory is their biggest quarterfinal win in team history. They’ll await confirmation of their opponent following the end of Canada and Slovakia’s quarterfinal game later today. USA will have a shot at a medal for the sixth time in the past eight tournaments, last winning gold in 2021 in Edmonton.
The Americans were much stronger from the get-go, needing only 3:51 to score the first goal. At 3:51, Logan Cooley danced around a pair of defenders and tucked it between the legs of Nikita Quapp for the 1-0 goal.
That seemed to spark the American attack, and at 8:00 on the power play, they scored again. This time, Ryan Ufko – who set up Cooley for the first goal – found Jimmy Snuggerud in free space. Snuggerud’s shot bounced off a German defenseman in front and past Quapp for the 2-0 goal.
Just 39 seconds later, Ufko again got himself on the scoresheet, setting up a wide-open Red Savage for the 3-0 goal. Charlie Stramel scored shortly after on a goal that was ultimately taken back for being offside, but USA was in complete control.
After that third goal, though, the game felt a bit closer. The Germans were keeping pace, and the United States couldn’t generate much for a 15-minute span. That all At 29:05, Jackson Blake’s first goal of the tournament made it 4-0, starting a floodgate to close the period.
Cooley and Cutter Gauthier scored 18 seconds apart at the 31-minute mark to make it 6-0 before Savage’s second of the night made it 7-0 at 35:25. Gauthier’s second of the night concluded the period, with USA showing its dominance with an eight-goal advantage.
USA wanted to keep the pressure on as they focused ahead to the semifinal and didn’t stop putting on the pressure. Kenny Connors scored early to make it 9-0 after strongarming himself in front of the net for the goal. Two minutes later, Cooley completed the hat-trick after crashing the net to knock in Gauthier’s goal. At 48:31, Dylan Duke added one to make it 11-0, giving Ufko his fifth assist of the contest.
The Americans wouldn’t leave with a shutout, however. Both teams went to their backups for the third, including USA, who sat Trey Augustine to finish with Andrew Oke. Oke played well, but was in net for Luca Hauf’s hard-wrister with just over three minutes to go to make it 11-1. That earned a loud applause from the crowd in Moncton, with Germany having one last reason to celebrate before packing up.
Three Stars
- Ryan Ufko, D (USA, Nashville): So much attention has been placed on Lane Hutson and Luke Hughes, but Ufko’s five-point effort was one of the best offensive outputs by a defenseman this year.
- Logan Cooley, F (USA, Arizona): Three goals and four points for Cooley as he continues his assault on the scoring charts.
- Cutter Gauthier, F (USA, Philadelphia): Nearly got a hat-trick, but the Flyers prospect won’t complain about a two-goal, three-point night.