U23: Canada outshot the American team. Defenseman Maher excelled

The opening day of the championship in Liberec brought a very exciting North American derby in the U23 category. The Maple Leafs started better and forced their rivals to constantly tighten the game. Although the Americans stepped up the pressure in the end, Canada won after a close 5:4 victory. And that was thanks to four goal assists from defenseman Caiden Maher.

Svijanska Arena 1

4-5

(2:3, 1:2, 1:0)

USA U23 - Canada U23

Penalties

3:3

PPG

2:1

SHG

1:0

Shots on goal

22:32

Goals and assists

12. Anesin (Albright), 14. Garneau (Drew, Tolman), 23. Crousy (Anesin, Bujdos), 42. Albright – 2. N. Smilsky (Maher, Sahota), 9. Wyatt (Maher, Neilson), 13. Neilson (Maher), 17. Keough (N. Smilsky, Broaders), 25. Broaders (Rawji, Maher)

Referees

Michael Vitello, Trevor Jarvis

Official game sheet

USA U23

Snyder – Albert, Holman, Maloy, Melillo, Ferris, Steiberg, Dickhut – Miller, Drew, Andes, Tolman, Crousy, Callahan, Geatens, Bujdos, Dorsey, Chernetskiy, Albright, Gameau, Anesin

Canada U23

Allin – Granitto, N. Smilsky, Fenwick, Bataglia, Maher, M. Smilsky, Burke, Dosanjh, Sahota – Keough, Broaders, Gosse, Lock, Neilson, Oleksiuk, Richards, Wyatt, Robinson, Kelly, Rawji

COACHES´ REACTIONS

Dan Gaetens (USA): It was a tough match. Although we had plenty of opportunities, we weren't able to capitalize on them, whereas the Canadians succeeded. Hats off to Canada because they played superbly. Nonetheless, now we need to quickly regroup in order to perform better in the next game.