The U.S. Collegiate Selects earned their first win of the Spengler Cup with a 5–3 victory over host HC Davos, scoring first, answering each push, and putting the game away late in the third.
The Selects opened the scoring at 2:31 of the first period when Quinn Finley finished a play from Aiden Fink to make it 1–0. The rest of the opening frame stayed quiet on the scoreboard, and the Selects carried the one-goal lead into intermission.
USA stretched the margin early in the second. At 1:42, Matt Dimarsico made it 2–0, with Fink picking up the assist. Davos answered quickly, cutting it to 2–1 at 2:13 on a goal by Yannick Frehner. The hosts eventually pulled even at 16:41, when Sven Jung tied it 2–2 with helpers from Rasmus Asplund and Nico Gross.
The Selects responded again to regain control before the break. Dimarsico scored his second of the game at 17:12 to restore the lead at 3–2, with Charlie Cerrato credited with the assist, and the Collegiate Selects took that advantage into the third.
The Americans added breathing room early in the final period. At 1:53, Quinn Finley scored his second of the night to make it 4–2, with T.J. Hughes and Zam Plante earning the assists. Davos pushed back once more at 5:57, as Michael Fora brought the hosts within one at 4–3, assisted by Enzo Corvi and Brendan Lemieux.
The deciding moment came late after Davos was assessed a major penalty for illegal check to the head or neck at 16:09 of the third. With the Selects on the ensuing power play, Eric Pohlkamp scored at 17:49 to make it 5–3, with Finley and Plante recording the assists, and the U.S. side closed out the remaining time from there.
The U.S. will now await its next opponent as it has finished the group stage with both a regulation win and loss. The other two teams in that group, Canada and HC Davos, play Sunday to decide the final group standings.