U.S. Defeats Germany, 10-4, To Open World Juniors Preliminary Round
OTTAWA, Ontario – James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y./Boston College) recorded two goals and two assists while Cole Hutson (North Barrington, Ill./Boston University) added five assists to help the U.S. National Junior Team to a 10-4 victory over Germany in its first preliminary round contest of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.
“I thought overall we did a lot of good things and we’ll continue to grow and build,” said David Carle (Anchorage, Alaska/University of Denver), head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. “It was good to get a win under our belt and we’ll turn our focus now to playing Latvia on Saturday.”
Team USA nearly opened the scoring 4:27 into the game, but Gabe Perreault (Hinsdale, Ill./Boston College) was denied by German netminder Nico Pertuch on a sprawling save at the goal line on what looked like a sure goal.
Hagens opened the scoring for Team USA at 8:07 when he put home a loose puck after a net-front scrum. Hutson and Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass./Boston College) assisted on the tally.
Perreault wristed a shot over the glove of Pertuch at 11:56 following a feed from Hagens to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead.
HIGHLIGHTS
U.S. netminder Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich./Michigan State University) denied Nick Maul on a two-on-one opportunity with 2:13 remaining to maintain Team USA’s two-goal advantage after the first frame.
Trevor Connelly (Tustin, Calif./Providence College) extended the U.S. advantage just 1:38 into the second, as he capitalized on a pass from Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass./Boston University) to put Team USA up, 3-0.
Germany’s Julius Sumpf scored on the power play at 5:00 and David Lewandowski tallied with 10:37 remaining in the middle frame to trim the U.S. lead to 3-2.
Hagens scored his second of the contest at 14:01 as he powered a shot under Pertuch’s arm to give Team USA a 4-2 lead.
Brandon Svoboda (Level Green, Pa./Boston University) scored what proved to be the game-winner at 18:40, as he backhanded home a rebound opportunity. Perreault lasered a wrister into the back of the net 59 seconds later to give Team USA a 6-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Carey Terrance (Akwesasne, N.Y./Erie Otters) found the back of the net 3:04 into the third period, converting a two-on-one opportunity with Svoboda to extend the U.S. lead to five.
Lenny Boos scored for Germany at 5:37 before Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn./University of Minnesota) tallied a pair of goals at the 7:16 and 9:44 marks, to put the game out of reach.
After Timo Ruckdaschel scored for Germany at 16:14, Eiserman added the final U.S. goal to account for the 10-4 final.
Augustine made 18 saves for the U.S. in the victory.
The U.S. National Junior Team is back in preliminary round action against Latvia Saturday (Dec. 28) at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
NOTES: Gabe Perreault, who had two goals and an assist, along with seven shots on goal, was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot Germany, 56-22 … Team USA was 0-for-4 on the power play while Germany was 1-for-4.
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Source: usahockey.com