Czech Underdogs Conquer Defending Gold Medalists USA
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FrankieAugust 18, 2022 (2:11 PM)
After sweeping their preliminary round games with a 4-0 finish, Team USA ends their tourney run with 5th place. In their quarterfinal game against Czechia on Wednesday night, Logan Cooley scored at 12:03 of the first to put the Americans up 1-0. Czech captain Jan Mysak tied the game at 17:55.
The Czechs dominated the second period with solid scoring chances, two of which found the back of the net. They took the lead for the first time at 7:34 with a goal from Petr Hauser and secured a cushion three minutes later when Matyas Sapovaliv got one passed Kaidan Mbereko.
The third period would be trying for the Americans. Less than three minutes in, Brett Berard was given a 5-minute penalty PLUS a game for a slew foot. USA killed the penalty, and then got a 5-minute power play of their own when Czechia's Stanislav Svozil went knee-to-knee on Cooley. At 11:31, American Carter Mazur cashed in to cut Czechia's lead in half, making it 3-2. Mbereko went to the bench with 1:40 left in the third, but a bad giveaway allowed Czech Jiri Kulich to land an empty-netter to put this one away.
Mazur giving Team USA life 🙌@Carter_Mazur | @usahockey | #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/dDhyXUJuD9� NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 18, 2022
You can catch the semifinal game between Czechia and Canada on Friday August 19 at 4 pm EST.
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