The USA team was the undisputed favorite in this game. USA had defeated Slovakia 9-0 and defeated Norway 8-2 in the opening of the tournament. The Latvian national team conceded less (seven goals), but could not avoid the loss.
The Latvian national team is still in third place in subgroup A with three points, which were obtained with the victory over Slovakia. Latvia still has a game against Norway (tomorrow), while Norway will play against Slovakia the day after tomorrow.
The Norwegians and Slovaks have no points yet, so the only scenario in which Latvia remains without a quarter-final is the following – a loss to Norway in regular time and Slovakia’s victory over Norway in regular time, moreover, in such a way that Latvia remains the worst goal statistics of mutual games (currently +2 for Latvia, Norway 0, Slovakia -2).
On the other hand, if they manage to score even a point against Norway, the Latvian national team will already guarantee a place in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
In the match against the USA team, the team led by Oleg Sorokin got behind very quickly – already in the 26th second of the game, when the American defender Cole Hutson shot accurately. In the sixth minute, the score was 2-0, but at the end of the period, USA realized the majority. Latvia had a great opportunity when Maksims Kharitoncevs ran alone against the USA goalkeeper, but the shot was blocked.
In the second period, the USA U18 national team once again used the majority and achieved 5-0, but the Latvian national team also had its say. At the end of the second period, Daniel Serkin took advantage of the sloppiness of the US defenders, trying to catch a puck thrown in the air zone. He caught the puck, slipped past yet another US defender and slammed it into the net. Haritontsev and Hari Tsjunskis had assists.
However, this did not change the course of the game, and in the third period, USA scored the sixth and seventh goals. After the sixth goal conceded, the Latvian national team changed goalkeepers, sending Dilan Birkānas on the field instead of Mika Vecvanagas.
Latvia U18 – USA U18 1:7 (0:3, 1:2, 0:2)
Gate: 0:26 Hutson (Stiga, Hagens) 0:1, 5:34 Connelly (Emery) 0:2, 16:59 Stiga (Connelly, Hutson) 0:3, 27:55 Mooney (Connelly, Emery) 0:4, 35:35 Aizerman (Stiga, Hensler) 0:5, 38:53 Serkin (Kharitontsev, Tjunski) 1:5, 48:38 Hagens (Plant, Aizerman) 1:6, 52:14 Connelly (Hagens, Zimmer) 1: 7
Shots: 25:37
Penalty minutes: 8:4
Goalkeepers: Veczvanags (from 48:38 Birkans) – Kempf (from 46:39 Heils)
Latvian game calendar
| The date | Opponent | Res. |
|---|---|---|
| 25.04. | Finland | 1:3 |
| 26.04. | Slovakia | 5:3 |
| 28.04. | United States | 1:7 |
| 29.04. | Norway | 17.30 |
Tournament table
| V | Group A | S | U | UP | ZP | Z | +/- | P | Group B | S | U | UP | ZP | Z | +/- | P | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24:3 | 6 | Canada | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12:3 | 6 | |||
| 2. | Finland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:1 | 9 | Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6:8 | 5 | |||
| 3. | Latvia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7:13 a.m | 3 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12:10 p.m | 4 | |||
| 4. | Norway | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2:15 a.m | 0 | Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5:5 | 3 | |||
| 5. | Slovakia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3:18 a.m | 0 | Kazakhstan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3:12 a.m | 0 |
Latvian U18 national team
| Player | Pos. | Born | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mikus Veczvanags | V | 17.01.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Nils Roberts Mauriņš | V | 06.09.2006 | SÖDERTÄLJE SK (SWEDEN) |
| Dylan Birkan | V | 13.06.2006 | ODENSE (DENMARK) |
| Christ the Rare | A | 04.07.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Oskar Nils Briedis | A | 10.06.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Krisjānis Sārts | A | 18.01.2007 | HS RIGA |
| Harry Cjunsky | A | 30.04.2006 | HC LUGANO (SWITZERLAND) |
| Roland Naglis | A | 10.02.2007 | BERN (SWITZERLAND) |
| Darrell Uljanski | A | 25.08.2006 | AIK (SWEDEN) |
| Bruno Petrovich | A | 27.04.2006 | ALBERTA ACADEMY (CANADA) |
| Anton Macijewski | U | 28.02.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Edvins Berzins | U | 09.08.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Maksims Pumpiņš | U | 11.05.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Alexander Zaprivoda | U | 16.04.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Dmitry Dilevka | U | 13.10.2006 | HS RIGA |
| Oliver Mūrnieks | U | 31.07.2008 | MOGO/LSPA |
| Bruno Osmanis | U | 16.12.2006 | IF BJÖRKLÖVEN (SWEDEN) |
| Nils Vaags | U | 19.02.2006 | IF BJÖRKLÖVEN (SWEDEN) |
| Marcus Christian Sieradzki | U | 22.05.2006 | MORA IK (SWEDEN) |
| Maksim Kharitontsev | U | 27.07.2006 | MORA IK (SWEDEN) |
| Karl Flugin | U | 11.11.2007 | IK OSKARSHAMN (SWEDEN) |
| Daniel Serkin | U | 24.07.2007 | THURGAU (SWITZERLAND) |
| Martins Klaucans | U | 08.07.2008 | NEW JERSEY ROCKETS (USA) |
Resources used:
https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2024…
Tags: Latvian U18 national team lost USA young hockey players Hockey Sportacentrs .com
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