The United States won its second consecutive gold medal at the 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship by beating Finland 4-3 in overtime. Teddy Stiga gave his team the victory by scoring his first goal of the tournament 8 minutes and 4 seconds into overtime, after an assist from Zeev Buium. This success marks a historic turning point for the Americans, who won gold for the first time two years in a row in this competition.
The start of the match, however, was to the advantage of Finland, which quickly took the upper hand. Jesse Kiiskinen opened the scoring in the 7th minute, taking advantage of a numerical advantage to deceive American goalkeeper Trey Augustine. A few minutes later, Tuomas Uronen gave the Finns the lead again with a precise shot after a remarkable individual action. At the start of the second period, Emil Pieniniemi took advantage of a coordination error in the American defense to make the score 3-1.
Despite this two-goal deficit, the United States did not give up. They reduced the gap thanks to a deflected shot from Brandon Svoboda before future top scorer in the competition Cole Hutson equalized at the very end of the second period. By then, the momentum had swung in favor of the Americans, who controlled most of the overtime.
The goalkeepers played a central role in this meeting. Trey Augustine, on the American side, set two junior records by winning a third U20 medal and a second gold medal. His Finnish counterpart, Petteri Rimpinen, made 40 saves and kept his team alive despite constant pressure from the Americans in overtime. His performances throughout the tournament were praised, although they were not enough to prevent defeat.
This victory comes during a prosperous period for American junior hockey. Since 2010, the United States has won five gold medals in this competition, confirming its status as a force majeure at the international level. This double, unprecedented in their history, underlines the quality of their junior development and perhaps a handover with Canada in the background.
For their part, Finland proved once again that they were a formidable team. Despite losing in the final, their run in the tournament was impressive. The Finns notably beat the Americans 4-3 in overtime during the preliminary phase, demonstrating their ability to compete with the best nations. This result confirms their position among the best junior teams in the world, although gold eludes them once again after their last title in 2019.
United States – Finland 4-3 (1-2, 2-1, 0-0, 1-0)
Sunday January 5, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at the Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Canada. 16,822 spectators.
Referees: CAMPBELL Michael, HOLM Christoffer assisted by DAVIS Jake and HAUTAMAKI Onni
Penalties: USA 4′ (4′, 0′, 0′); Finland 2′ (2′, 0′, 0′)
Shots: United States 40 (8, 15, 11, 6); Finland 24 (13, 4, 5, 2)
Superiorities: United States 1/1, Finland 0/2
Evolution of the score:
0-1 à 07’13 : Kiiskinen assisté de Hemming et Hynninen (sup. num.)
1-1 at 12’04: Hagens assisted by Leonard and Perreault
1-2 at 13:03: Uronen assisted by Alasiurua and Hemming
1-3 à 24’52 : Pieniniemi assisted by Ruohonen and Nurmi
2-3 at 37’38: Svoboda assisted by Plante and Hutson
3-3 at 39’31: Hutson assisted by Leonard and Buium
4-3 at 68’04: Stiga assisted by Buium and Ziemer (overtime)
UNITED STATES
Attackers :
Ryan Leonard (C) – James Hagens – Gabe Perreault
Oliver Moore – Danny Nelson – Brodie Ziemer
Trevor Connelly – Carey Terrance – Teddy Stiga
Austin Burnevik – Brandon Svoboda – Max Plante
Cole Eiserman
Rears :
Drew Fortescue – Zeev Buium
Cole Hutson-Adam Kleber
Colin Ralph – Logan Hensler
Aram Minnetian – Austin Burnevik
Guardian :
Trey Augustine (21 saves)
Substitute : Hampton Slukynsky (G)
Coach : David Carle (Head Coach)
Finland
Attackers :
Topias Hynninen – Konsta Helenius – Benjamin Rautiainen
Jesse Kiiskinen – Heikki Ruohonen – Jesse Nurmi
Rasmus Kumpulainen – Julius Miettinen – Kasper Halttunen
Emil Hemming – Arttu Alasiurua – Tuomas Uronen
Joona Saarelainen
Rears :
Emil Pieniniemi – Aron Kiviharju
Mitja Jokinen – Daniel Nieminen
Veeti Vaisanen – Arttu Tuhkala
Kalle Kangas – Emil Hemming
Guardian :
Petteri Rimpinen (40 saves)
Substitute : Kim Saarinen (G)
Coach : Lauri Mikkola (Entraîneur-chef)
