FRISCO, Texas – The U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team clinched the top seed in Group B as it defeated Sweden, 6-3, here tonight at Comerica Center in its third preliminary round game of the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship.
Team USA rounds out the preliminary round here Monday (April 28) at Comerica Center against Germany. Faceoff is set for 7:00 p.m. local, 8:00 p.m. ET and the game can be seen live on NHL Network.
“I’m really proud of how our team executed tonight,” said Greg Moore (Lisbon, Maine), head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team. “Even after going down early, the guys absorbed the pressure and just kept pushing. Our puck movement got sharper and more confident as the game went on. We stuck to our process and played the way we’ve been building toward all along.”
Sweden got on the board first at 7:47 off a shot inside the faceoff circle, and at 12:15 advanced its lead to 2-0.
Team USA scored its first of the contest at 15:35 after tic-tac-toe passing from Will Horcoff (Birmingham, Mich.) and Donny Bracco (Freeport, N.Y.) found Will Moore (Ithaca, N.Y.) on the doorstep.
HIGHLIGHTS
The U.S. evened the game off the blade of Jacob Kvasnicka (Plymouth, Minn.) 2:04 into the middle frame. Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.) sped hard towards the net before he put one on the stick of Kvasnicka who cruised to the crease to tap-in the loose puck.
Sweden scored on the breakaway at 7:22 to regain the lead. Berchild evened the game at 3-3 as Kvasnicka’s initial shot rang off the post, but Berchild was there to put it past Swedish goaltender Love Harenstam with 1:37 to go in the second.
Cullen Potter (Minneapolis, Minn.) tallied :43 later for what proved to be the game-winner, firing one home from the slot to give the U.S. a 4-3 advantage after 40 minutes.
Drew Schock (Green Bay, Wis.) gave Team USA a two-goal lead at 7:28 of the third off a redirect from Kvasnicka’s second helper. U.S. netminder Patrick Quinlan (Kennett Square, Pa.) came up big on a Swedish shorthanded breakaway to maintain the U.S. lead. Sweden gave one final push with its net empty, but Teddy Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) found the empty net for the 6-3 final.
GAME PHOTOS
GAME STATS GAME PREVIEW
Quinlan stopped 25 shots in the win.
NOTES: With a goal and two assists, Jacob Kvasnicka (Plymouth, Minn.) was named Team USA’s Player of the Game … Both teams were 0-1 on the power play … The U.S. outshot Sweden, 42-28 … Tickets for the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship can be purchased online here … For complete tournament news, including full schedule, broadcast information, stats and standings, click here … Team USA news, including tournament interviews and highlights, can be found here.
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Source: usahockey.com