The United States dropped its World Junior Championship quarterfinal game to Finland 1-0 Thursday at Werk Arena in Trinec, Czech Republic, eliminating the Americans from the tournament.
The result ends the U.S. all-time best medal streak at four consecutive years.
“I thought this group that we have was growing, but tonight we were chasing the game and didn’t have it,” said Team USA coach Scott Sandelin (Minnesota Duluth) in a statement. “There are some guys in there who will have a chance at this again. I hope they all learn from it moving forward.”
Down 1-0, the U.S. had one final chance to score, earning a power play with 1:15 remaining in the third period. USA pulled goaltender Spencer Knight (Boston College), looking to capitalize on a six-on-four advantage, but could not get the equalizer.
Knight, who finished with 28 saves and was named the U.S. player of the game, was also selected as one of the three top players for Team USA in the event, joining forward Shane Pinto (North Dakota) and defenseman Trevor Zegras (Boston University).
Zegras finished tied for fourth in U.S. single tournament history with nine assists.
