Team USA finished their Pool B bracket play with a solid 9-1 win over Hungary helping them to finish atop the pool with a 4-1-0 record. Luke Aquaro (Hobart) jumpstarted the team with goal at 59 seconds and added a second goal for a 2-0 lead just four minutes into the game.
The game was put out of reach with a five goal second period as Mitch Walinski (Salve Regina), Quinn Green (UWEC), Connor Szmul (UWEC), Aquaro’s third for a hat trick and Jack Jaunich (Aurora) put the game out of reach for the Americans who dominated play throughout the game.
The third period saw Matt Hannewall (MSOE) and John Mulera (Salve Regina) sandwich goals around the single Hungarian tally for the 9-1 win. For the game Team USA outshot Hungary by a 67-19 margin. Goaltender Evan Ruschil (Williams College) stopped 18 of 19 shots to earn the win.
With Slovakia’s loss to the Republic of Korea and Team USA’s back-to-back wins over Kazakhstan and Hungary, USA heads to the medal round as the top seed in Pool B and Kazakhstan earning the second spot for Saturday’s semifinal games against either Japan or the Czech Republic and Canada from Pool A (pending the final games from Pool A). The medal round games shift from Scheel Arena at Clarkson to Lake Placid and the championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN on Sunday, January, 22.
