Sweden wins U-18 world championship in hockey for men across the USA
Sweden managed to put an end to the USA’s strong effort in Germany and won the U-18 World Cup in hockey 6-4.
Sweden returns to the top step on the medal podium after winning the tournament in 2019, which increases the team’s medal count to four consecutive tournaments. Sweden has divided Russia and Finalnd for others in total medals with 12 each, where the Finns took bronze earlier on Sunday.
Ryan Leonard gave the Americans an early lead of 2:24, with his shot hitting Hugo Havelid on the USA’s first goal chance of the period.
Efficiency was the name of the game for Sweden, who scored four goals on their first 10 shots. Oskar Pettersson’s fast player at 12:09 made it 1-1, where Noah Ostlund scored a minute later and took advantage for the first time. Frank Nazar’s nice goal from a tough angle at 15:56 made it 2-2 on the way into the first break of the match.
Sweden’s powerplay went a long way throughout the match, highlighted by goals from Ostlund and Ohgren in the second. Rutger McGroarty’s goal late in the period made the match a one-goal deal once again heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
The Americans did everything they could to try to get back to a match that they eventually outscored Sweden 6-4. But Ohgren’s second goal – a power-play marker of 51:59 on a break – put Sweden back with two and out of reach for the United States. McGroarty’s second goal of the match with three minutes left added a little extra drama, but the Swedish net champion Hugo Havelid kept himself and Jonathan Lekkerimaki made an empty goal scorer to win the match and the championship.