Bronze for USA U23! Canadians go home medalless

The two North American U23 teams contested for the first medals at this World Juniors. The Americans took the lead first thanks to Ricky Anesin, but Canada quickly came back. However, the USA had a comeback of their own up their sleeves as they scored four unanswered goals by the 37th minute, with Anesin netting his second to extend the American lead to three goals. The US forward also became the man of the match as he added two assists to his tally. The Canadians couldn't respond in time, losing the game 6-3. Thus the USA can celebrate third place as they receive the first medals of the tournament.

Home Credit Arena

3-6

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

Canada U23 - USA U23

Penalties

4:8

PPG

2:2

SHG

0:1

Shots on goal

20:39

Goals and assists

14. Neilson (Robinson, Granito), 17. Kelly (Keough, Rawji), 39. Kelly (Maher, Keough) – 11. Anesin (Callahan, Albright), 18. Tolman (Callahan), 24. Bujdos (Crousy, Anesin), 29. Miller (Geatens, Drew), 37. Anesin (Albright), 43. Bujdos (Anesin)

Referees

Michal Laczko, Vojtěch Filipiec

Official game sheet

Canada U23

Allin – Maher (C), Burke, Dosanjh, Sahota (A), M. Smilsky, Fenwick, Battaglia, Granito – Robinson, Wyatt, Neilson – Broaders, Keough (A), Rawji – Kelly, Richards, N. Smilsky – Lock, Oleksiuk, Gosse.

USA U23

Snyder – Bujdos, Melillo (C), Albert, Andes, Malloy, Steinberg, Dickhut, Ferris – Crousy (A), Tolman, Garneau (A) – Miller, Geatens, Drew – Anesin, Albright, Callahan – Holman, Chernetskiy, Dorsey.

COACHES´ REACTIONS

Dan Gaetens (USA): "It's a fantastic feeling. We've had three tough battles before, and we had to put things right for today's match. I almost wish the tournament would start now. I think we would do really well. We had several inexperienced players on the team who hadn't experienced anything like this before. I really enjoyed the championship; it was incredible. Whether it was the atmosphere, the city, or the people."

Dave Weloy (CAN): "The entire tournament was great, and it was amazing to be a part of it. It wasn't the result we wished for, however, I have to appreciate the game played by the United States, who were the better team today."