OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Boston College teammates James Hagens and Ryan Leonard each scored twice and the defending champion United States routed Switzerland 7-2 on Thursday in the world junior hockey quarterfinals.
Boston University’s Brandon Svoboda, Notre Dame’s Danny Nelson and Denver’s Zeev Buium also scored, Hampton Slukynsky of Western Michigan made 17 saves and BC’s Gabe Perreault had three assists.
“I thought we played a good back and forth game with them, got pucks behind them and went to work,” Svoboda said. “We’re a fast team, and when we play like that, we’re hard to beat. We’re watching video every day, and if we can keep improving little things then we’ll continue to be successful.”
The Group A champion Americans will face Czechia on Saturday in the semifinals. Czechia shocked Canada, the tournament hosts, 4-3 on Thursday night.
Adam Jecho scored the winner with 40 seconds left after Canada had tied it late in the third period.
“Overall, I thought we were ready to play and did what we needed to do against a good opponent in Switzerland,” said U.S. coach David Carle of Denver. “We’ll get ready now for the semifinals and look forward to the challenge in front of us.”
Nils Rhyn and Andro Kaderli scored for Switzerland.
In the other quarterfinals at TD Place, Group B winner Sweden beat Latvia 3-2, and Finland topped Slovakia 5-3.
USA forward Danny Nelson (17) celebrates his goal as Switzerland forward Kimo Gruber (12) skates by during the first period of a quarterfinal match at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa, Ontario Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)AP
David Edstrom, Zeb Forsfjall and Anton Wahlberg scored for Sweden. Jesse Nurmi had two goals and an assist for Finland, a 4-3 overtime winner over the United States in group play.
In the relegation game, Maxim Schafer scored twice to help Germany beat Kazakhstan 4-3. Germany secured a spot next season in the tournament, while Kazakhstan was demoted to the Division I Group A tournament.
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