The U.S. National Junior Team advanced to the gold medal game of the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship by defeating Canada 5-1 in the semifinals in Ufa, Russia, on Thursday.
The United States will face Sweden on Saturday, Jan. 5.
[scg_html_wjc2013] Team USA captain Jake McCabe (Wisconsin) scored two goals and added an assist, while John Gaudreau (Boston College) added two goals of his own. Harvard’s Jim Vesey tallied the other goal.
Gaudreau now has seven goals in the tournament, which ties for second-most on the U.S. single-tournament goal list. All seven goals have been in the last three games.
“We got the start we wanted, scoring the all-important first goal,” said Team USA coach Phil Housley in a news release. “We wanted to dictate the pace of the game early and we were able to do that and then it carried into the second period. We’re going to enjoy this win tonight and then start thinking about the gold medal game tomorrow.”
John Gibson (OHL’s Kitchener Rangers) stopped 33 shots for the U.S.
The gold medal game goes down at 7 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) on Saturday.
