What a game! Outplayed early, the never-say-die USA team took the World Junior Championship into overtime. This time, they turned the table and bested the Finns, 4-3 to take home the gold medal, Team USA’s second straight championship, which had never happened for the Americans before.
It was end-to-end hockey early with goalies Trey Augustine (USA) and Petteri Rimpinen (FIN) making early stops. Finland scored first on the break during a powerplay entry pass to Jesse Kiiskinen who beat Augustine on the snipe, 1-0 Finland. The Finns looked dangerous on the counter-attack as Augustine was often the last line of defense for the USA. Out of the blue, after spending most of their time defending, the USA found themselves on the rush and James Hagens (BC) found a loose puck in the paint and poked it into goal, 1-1. A minute later, a quick counter by the Finns left Tuomas Uronen open in the right circle and he delivered a 2-1 lead for Finland. Finland led in shots 13-8 but the overall quality of their shots was much higher than the Americans in the first period.
The Finns came out on fire in the second period, much like the first. Five minutes into the frame, two USA players collided (Zeev Buium & Oliver Moore) and Tuomas Uronen skated to mid-ice and fired a shot over Augustine’s blocker, 3-1. Trailing by two goals, the Americans started to play with more urgency and a strong forecheck in the latter half of the period. The Americans were catching momentum and started to outshoot the Finns. With three minutes left in the period, Brandon Svoboda (BU) launched the puck at the Finland goal from near the blue line and the seeing-eye shot caromed off a defender into the goal, 3-2. With a half minute remaining, Cole Hutson went on the rush and buried a goal over goaltender Petteri Rimpinen’s shoulder, 3-3. Suddenly, an outplayed USA for most of the game had all the momentum.
The Americans were aggressive early in third period with Grade-A scoring chances. Team USA took control of the blue line and pressed for the lead goal. By the midway point of the third period, DU held the shot advantage 27-19. The USA kept on the front foot, pressing the puck and swarming the Finns defensive zone. Still, the game remained tied under the five-minute mark. It was end-to-end action in the final minutes as both teams had chances to light the lamp. The period ended in regulation, 3-3.
The format called for continuous 3-on-3 overtime. It was a chess match, controlled by the USA but Rimpinen made some big blocker stops low. The USA got a quick breakout on the Finns with an open-ice breakout pass to Teddy Stiga (BC) who skated into goal, deeked, and slid the puck under the five-hole for the 4-3 win. It was Stiga’s first goal of the tournament.
This tournament once again proved to be one of the most exciting events on the athletic calendar. The 2025 tournament featured tight contests, overtime in both the title game and third place game, and excellent hockey.
More importantly, David Carle becomes the first coach to win back-to-back World Junior Championships for the USA and continues to burnish his reputation as one of the finest coaches in the sport.
You forget to include which player had the amazing sauce pass for the game winner! 😉
Zeev made that amazing pass!
Great win for the USA!
Zeev Buium had another solid game with the most ice time of anyone on the team and key assists on each of the last 2 goals.
The ebb and flow of this contest reminded me of the 2022 NCAA Championship game vs MN State, when DU was outplayed for much of the game, only to come alive and dominate late to secure the win. The US team tonight did much the same.
Looking forward to Zeev’s return to the Pios for the stretch run to this years NCAA tournament.
Carle makes such good decisions for on the fly. Pairing Zeev and Hutson got our offense going. If he hadn’t made that change, we probably would’ve lost the game.
Back to back gold medals baby!!! Congrats to Coach Carle, all of the assistants and support staff, and of course to that amazing group of players! It was a very memorable, exciting, and history-making run. So much fun to watch.
It was not a good start. The Finns were clearly the better team through the first half of the game or so, had better jump, and looked liked the more confident squad. I assumed/hoped it was just a case of nerves for Team USA. Finally, late in the second period, they found their legs a bit and started to push the pace and dictate play. Svoboda’s goal was obviously a huge one–that made it 3-2. He made a great play, used his speed, and found some space. Fluky or not, good things can happen when you get the puck to the net. It definitely helped shift the momentum. Then Hutson did what Hutson does, making an amazing run to get the equalizer late in the second. Team USA was the better team the rest of the way, generating some terrific chances and nearly winning it on several occasions in OT. Zeev’s pass to Stiga for the game winner was an absolute thing of beauty. What a play and what a way to finish it off.
Coach Carle continues to add to his resume. Can his star shine any brighter?!?! What an incredible job he’s done for DU and for USA Hockey. Amazing. I hope we can keep him around for a while yet……
Where was the game played and on what date??
Ottawa, Sunday.