(Ottawa) — Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass./Boston College) scored 8:04 into three-on-three overtime as the U.S. National Junior Team erased a two-goal deficit and earned a 4-3 victory over Finland in the gold-medal game of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship here tonight. It marked the first time in history that the U.S. has won back-to-back World Junior gold medals.
Stiga secured gold for the U.S. with his first goal of the tournament at 8:04 of the overtime frame, as he cashed in through the five-hole on a breakaway opportunity set up by a stretch pass from Minnesota Wild prospect Zeev Buium (San Diego, Calif./University of Denver).
“I couldn’t be more proud of our group,” said David Carle (Anchorage, Alaska/University of Denver), head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. “They grew as a team, played for each other and ultimately accomplished something that has never been done by helping our nation win back-to-back gold medals in the World Juniors.”
There were nine native Minnesotans on the American roster for this year’s games. Golden Gopher skaters Oliver Moore of Mounds View and Brodie Ziemer (ZEEM-er) of Chaska are joined by St. Cloud State’s Colin Ralph of Maple Grove and Austin Burnevik of Blaine. In addition, Minnesota-Duluth teammates Max Plante of Hermantown and Adam Kleber of Chaska are on the U-S squad. Wisconsin’s Logan Hensler of Woodbury, Notre Dame’s Danny Nelson of Maple Grove, and Western Michigan’s Hampton Slukynsky of Warroad finalize the nine Minnesotans on the team.
St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson was an assistant coach for the U-S.
Finland’s Jesse Kiiskinen opened the scoring with a power-play goal from the slot at 7:13.
James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y./Boston College) found an equalizer for Team USA at 12:04, as he battled in front of the net to bang home a rebound chance following a shot from Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass./Boston College).
Tuomas Uronen responded 59 seconds later with a goal from the top of the right circle to give Finland a 2-1 lead.
U.S. netminder Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich./Michigan State University) made 11 saves in the opening stanza including a stellar blocker save on a broken play in front just 1:12 into the contest.
Emil Pieniniemi extended Finland’s lead to 3-1 on a wrister from the right circle at 4:52 of the middle period.
Brandon Svoboda (Level Green, Pa./Boston University) fired a shot from the point that deflected off a Finnish defender and found the back of the net with 2:22 remaining. Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth) and Cole Hutson (North Barrington, Ill./Boston University) assisted on the tally.
Hutson tied the contest with 28.7 seconds left in the second frame as he gathered a pass from Leonard and fired a shot from the slot that beat Finnish netminder Petteri Rimpinen on the glove side.
The U.S. outshot Finland, 15-4, in the second period.
A scoreless third period led to overtime, as Augustine and Rimpinen combined for 16 saves in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Augustine finished with 21 saves to pick up his 12th career win in the World Juniors, top all-time among American netminders.
NOTES: Teddy Stiga, who scored the game-winning overtime goal, was named U.S. Player of the Game … Ryan Leonard, who finished the tournament with 10 points (5g, 5a) was named tournament MVP … Leonard, Cole Hutson and Gabe Perreault were named to the Media All-Star Team … Leonard earned the Directorate Award as the Best Forward in the Tournament …. Team USA outshot Finland, 40-24 … The U.S. did not have a power play opportunity in the contest, while Finland went 1-for-1 … Team USA won its seventh gold medal in the IIHF World Junior Championship, with the previous six coming in 2024, 2021, 2017, 2013, 2010 and 2004.
(info and photo courtesy of USA Hockey)
