Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault combined to score three goals and lead the United States to a 4-1 victory in the semifinals of the 2025 IIHF World Juniors on Saturday night in Ottawa, Canada. The win sets the stage for a gold medal game against Finland on Sunday night. The two teams met once before in the grand final of this tournament in 2019.
In search of their third consecutive podium at this competition, the Czechs will battle it out with Sweden for the bronze medal on Sunday afternoon.
The Czech Republic (dating back to the days of Czechoslovakia) has won two gold, six silver and eight bronze medals in its World Junior history, while the Americans have six gold, two silver and seven bronze medals on their list.
This semi-final would have been the one contested by Canada, eliminated the day before. The large crowd was faced with a dilemma, having to choose between supporting the Czech Republic, the team that beat the hosts in the quarter-finals, or the United States, their long-time rivals. In the end, silence prevailed except for the moments when Petr Sikora grabbed the puck for the Czech Republic. Remember that this is the player who caused the five-minute major penalty and game misconduct to Canadian Cole Beaudoin in the quarter-finals.
The Czechs had a great opportunity to open the scoring when Adam Jecho hit the crossbar early in the game, but it was the Americans who broke the ice at 3:14. All thanks to a great effort from captain Ryan Leonard who wore a full visor to protect the two facial injuries he suffered the day before in the quarter-finals.
Leonard made his way around Jakub Dvorak, but the puck got away from him. So he dove to hit the disc towards the center for Gabe Perreault. The latter made a nice play to beat Michael Hrabal and give the United States a 1-0 lead.
Adam Novotny tied the game for the Czech Republic midway through the period when he connected on a loose puck along the left boards. Trey Augustine was out of position, too close to the near post, so Novotny had space to beat the American goaltender on the glove side, tying the game at 9:28.
The United States had a great opportunity to take the lead on another game prepared by Leonard and Perreault. This time, Leonard made the pass and Perreault found himself alone in front of Hrabal, who closed the door and made a good save. Shortly after, on a power play at the end of the period, Perreault saw his shot hit the post.
The second period was marked by conservative play with almost no scoring opportunities. The teams were cautious as possible, not creating too many plays and not giving the opponent an inch. Midway through the period, the referees awarded overlapping penalties to each team, leading to a short over-number situation on both sides and a four-on-four sequence. That’s when the Americans broke the tie.
Trevor Connelly struggled to enter opposing territory on the left flank and joined Cole Eiserman entering territory on the other wing. Eiserman let the puck go on a one-timer that the big Hrabal failed to block in his move.
The Czechs had a great opportunity to tie the game shortly after when Adam Novotny drove into the center of the territory unobstructed only to see his shot hit Augustine in the chest for an easy save. In response, Novotny slammed his stick on the ice, frustrated by the missed opportunity.
Needing a goal, the Czechs came out more aggressive in the third period and the U.S. was probably more passive in responding than they would have liked. This led to much of the game taking place on American territory, but without managing to thwart Augustine. Midway through the period, the goalie made the save of the tournament. He pushed a puck with his pad onto Jecho’s stick, which found itself in front of an open net. The Czech didn’t get the shot he wanted as the American goalkeeper pulled out his right pad to stop the disc in spectacular fashion.
This play seemed to wake up the Americans who began to carry the puck deeper into opposing territory, forcing the Czechs to turn their backs and chase the puck. A penalty for having too many players on the ice somewhat sabotaged the Czech efforts to tie the game, but Hrabal was solid in front of the net, holding his team to just one goal with about six minutes remaining.
The United States scored later to extend its lead, taking advantage of a poor Czech line change. Perreault once again served a nice pass in the slot to Leonard who pushed the disc into the back of the cage at 15:33 to put the match out of reach of the Europeans.
Oliver Moore added his two cents by scoring in an empty cage at 18:53.
