Team USA wrapped up the preliminary round of the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship with a 5-3 victory over Germany. The win kept the U.S. perfect in the group stage and finished atop Group B with an undefeated record.
Germany opened the scoring midway through the first period, but Team USA responded quickly when Asher Barnett (Wilmette, Ill.) knocked in a rebound from a Benjamin Kevan (Fairfield, Calif.) shot to tie it at 1-1. The back-and-forth continued into the second period, with Germany briefly reclaiming the lead. Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.) answered with a power-play goal, his fourth of the tournament, assisted by Drew Schock (Green Bay, Wis.) and Cullen Potter (Minneapolis, Minn.).
Germany again pulled ahead during a goalmouth scramble, but the U.S. tied it up once more when Will Horcoff (Birmingham, Mich.) beat the German goalie off a pass from Will Moore (Ithaca, N.Y.), with another assist from Potter. Just over a minute later, Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) gave the U.S. its first lead of the night, stealing the puck and scoring on a shorthanded breakaway.
Gallant sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final seconds, finishing with two goals and being named Team USA’s Player of the Game. The U.S. controlled the third period, outshooting Germany 15-7 and 37-25 overall. Goaltender Patrick Quinlan (Kennett Square, Pa.) made 22 saves in the win.
ALL-TIME AGAINST LATVIA
Team USA holds an all-time record of 7-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) against Latvia in this tournament. The U.S. has faced Latvia in the quarterfinal round once before, taking the meeting, 13-3, on April 28, 2022. The U.S. has allowed more than one goal once and outscore Latvia overall, 61-8. Team USA has scored 7+ goals in all meetings. The all-time history between the two countries is below:
April 17, 2007 – USA 8, Latvia 0
April 21, 2013 – USA 7, Latvia 1
April 17, 2016 – USA 12, Latvia 1
April 23, 2019 – USA 7, Latvia 1
April 28, 2022 – USA 13, Latvia 3
April 20, 2023 – USA 7, Latvia 1
April 28, 2024 – USA 7, Latvia 1