Group A
Switzerland – United States 1-5 (1-1, 0-2, 0-2)
BOBRUISK – It was harder than they would have liked, but in the end the U.S. was able to earn its first win at this year’s World U18 Championship with a 5-1 win against Switzerland.

Austin Czarik was the man of the hour for the Americans. He scored the first two goals which came a critical point when the U.S. needed momentum and stability.

The Americans were whistled for five minors in the first period and spent most of the period killing the Swiss power play. Despite having 10 minutes with the extra man, Switzerland scored only once in the stanza – an even-strength goal from Gregory Hofmann. The lead stood for only 27 seconds as Czarnik put in the equalizer, one of the few bright spots for the Americans in the period.

Czarnik struck again 4:01 into the second period to give the U.S. its first lead of the game. The goal settled the Americans down and got them into their game plan as they took only one penalty the entire period. Bill Arnold put in a late bonus goal in the last 15 seconds to give the U.S. some breathing room at the intermission.

The U.S. continued to steadily improve and by the end of the game were easily able to put the Swiss away with two third-period goals. Adam Clendening and Jason Zucker each got their first goals of the tournament to pull the Americans through to the 5-1 win.

Both teams stand with a 1-1 record after the first two game days and have the day off tomorrow. On Friday, the U.S. will take on Canada, while Switzerland has Sweden.

Group B
Latvia – Russia 0-9 (0-2, 0-4, 0-3)
MINSK – Russia stayed unbeaten, and virtually unchallenged, at this year’s U18 World Championship with an easy 9-0 win against Latvia. Russia has two wins in two games, while the Latvians are winless in their two outings.

Russia’s first power-play was representative of the entire game. They scored just 25 seconds into their first extra man chance, facing little resistance. Nikita Nesterov scored the opening tally on the rebound. Less than three minutes later Vladislav Namestnikov doubled the lead with his second goal of the championship. After taking another pair of late-period penalties, Latvia was lucky to escape with just the 2-0 deficit at the end of stanza as Russia swarmed the offensive zone.

The Latvian luck ran out in the second period as the Russians poured in four unanswered goals. Namestnikov put in another two goals and an assist in the flurry to complete a hat trick. His third goal 5:51 into the period prompted Latvia to pull goaltender Vadims Miscuks in favor of Kristers Gudlevskis.

The change did little to help the Latvian cause as Russia put in another three goals in the third period, cruising to the shutout win. Evgeni Kunetsov scored twice in the period, and closed the game with the pair of goals and an assist. Andrei Vasilveski earned the shutout bragging rights in net.

Both teams are idle tomorrow. Unbeaten Russia has a big game against Finland on Friday that could be the key to taking first place in the group. Meanwhile, Latvia will also resume play on Friday against the Czech Republic – a win is critical for the Latvians if they want to avoid the relegation round.

IIHF.com