FRISCO, Texas – Four players tallied at least two points as LJ Mooney (West Mifflin, Pa.) led with three as the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team beat Latvia, 6-3, here tonight at Comerica Center in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship.
Team USA advanced to the semifinal round and will face Sweden this Friday (May 2) inside Comerica Center. Faceoff is set for 7:00 p.m. local, 8:00 p.m. ET and the game can be seen live on NHL Network.
“Latvia put up a tough fight and made it challenging for us,” said Greg Moore (Lisbon, Maine), head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team. “Despite the difficulties, our team managed to prevail and secure the victory. We are incredibly proud of our team’s resilience and their ability to find a way to overcome obstacles. Each game has provided valuable insights into ourselves as a team, and these lessons will undoubtedly help us prepare for the semifinals.”
HIGHLIGHTS
“Latvia put up a tough fight and made it challenging for us,” said Greg Moore (Lisbon, Maine), head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team. “Despite the difficulties, our team managed to prevail and secure the victory. We are incredibly proud of our team’s resilience and their ability to find a way to overcome obstacles. Each game has provided valuable insights into ourselves as a team, and these lessons will undoubtedly help us prepare for the semifinals.”
Cullen Potter (Minneapolis, Minn.) opened the scoring for the U.S. at the 5:37 mark of the opening period. Garrett Lindberg (Moorhead, Minn.) bounced a pass off the end boards as Potter crashed the net to fire the loose puck past Latvian netminder Ivans Kufterins. Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) extended the lead to two 2:42 later with his sixth goal of the tournament, as he handled a pass from Cole McKinney (Lake Forest, Ill.) atop the crease and beat Kufterins.
Skating 4-on-4 in the second, Jack Murtagh (East Greenbush, N.Y.) found the back of the net with help from Mooney. Murtagh powered through Latvian defenders with the puck and dropped it for Mooney who found Murtagh moments later for a cross-ice feed and score at 7:23.
Latvia tallied its first of the game on the power play at 12:15 to make it 3-1. Nearly a minute later, Latvia added another with a man advantage to make it a one-goal game.
Team USA responded at 15:53 as an Asher Barnett (Wilmette, Ill.) blast rang off the boards behind the net and ricocheted off Kufterins into the back of the net.
Mooney made it a three-goal game with 7:35 to play with a helper from Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.). Berchild backhanded a pass from behind the net to Mooney at the doorstep as he tapped in his second goal of the tournament. Latvia cut its deficit to a pair 3:16 later off a redirect.
Latvia emptied its net with 2:08 to play for one final attack, but Potter wristed the puck down the ice for the empty-net tally at 18:41 to account for the 6-3 final.
Joey Slavick (Westland, Mich.) started in net for the U.S. and turned aside 19 shots for his second win of the tournament.
NOTES: Jack Murtagh was named Team USA’s Player of the Game … The U.S. was 0-3 on the power play, while Latvia was 2-4 … The U.S. outshot Latvia, 39-22 … The U.S. improved to 15-0-1-1 all-time in quarterfinal action … With a pair of assists, LJ Mooney sits t-6th in the U.S. record book for all-time assists at the tournament with 13 …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.
GAME PHOTOS
GAME STATS GAME PREVIEW 
2025 U18 MWC Home 
Team USA Schedule 
Team USA Insider
Source: usahockey.com