CAMROSE, Alberta – Behind two goals from Ben Kevan (Fairfield, Calif.), Brendan McMorrow (Lakeville, Minn.) and Finn Brink (Maple Grove, Minn.), the U.S. Junior Select Team earned a 9-0 victory over Canada West in its final preliminary round contest of the 2024 World Junior A Challenge tonight.
“I am really proud of how our team played,” said Matt Smaby (Minneapolis, Minn.), head coach of the U.S. Junior Select Team. “Score aside, I thought our team played a complete game. For 60 minutes we competed, made good puck decisions and played a great team game. Tonight was a great game for our team to build on.”
The U.S. got off to a 4-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes. Kevan opened the scoring 5:10 into the contest when he poked home a rebound during Team USA’s first man advantage opportunity of the contest.
Reid Daavetilla (Howell, Mich.) found the back of the net just 10 seconds later, capitalizing on an odd-man rush opportunity directly off the faceoff. Lucas Van Vliet (Livonia, Mich.) and McMorrow added helpers on the tally.
GAME PHOTOS
Ryan Rucinski (Broadview Heights, Ohio) increased the lead at 6:46, scoring on a rebound chance and Kevan added his second goal of the night and fourth power-play tally of the 2024 World Junior A Challenge on a net-front scrum at 18:58.
The U.S. extended its lead just past the mid-point of the middle stanza after Teddy Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) forced a turnover in the U.S. defensive zone which resulted in Brink finishing a two-on one opportunity.
Jack Pechar (Niskayuna, N.Y.) added a sixth U.S. goal at 13:47 on a breakaway opportunity generated by a stretch pass from Drake Murray (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) before McMorrow fired a one-timer home on the power-play at 18:18 to give the U.S. a 7-0 advantage after 40 minutes.
McMorrow added his second of the game off a turnover in front of the net just 1:08 into the final frame. Brink found the back of the net on a high wrister to increase the U.S. lead to 9-0 at the 8:49 mark.
U.S. netminder Caleb Heil posted his second shutout of the tournament, stopping all 19 Canada West shots he faced.
The U.S. Junior Select Team is back in action Saturday (Dec. 14) for a semifinal matchup with Canada East at 5:00 p.m. local/7:00 p.m. ET.
NOTES: Team USA outshot Canada, 44-19 … The U.S. was 3-8 on the power play, while Canada was 0-9 … Caleb Heil was named Team USA’s Player of the Game.
Source: usahockey.com