U.S. defeats Czechia to advance to gold-medal game vs. Finland

Gabe Perreault, Cole Eiserman, Ryan Leonard, and Oliver Moore scored for the United States as the Americans beat Czechia 4-1 in their World Junior Championship semifinal Saturday night.

The U.S. will play Finland for gold Sunday. The Americans have reached the final three times in the last five years. They won the 2024 gold-medal game over Sweden and beat Canada for the title in 2021.

However, the United States is playing in back-to-back finals for the first time ever in this tournament. As a result, the Americans have never won two consecutive world junior gold medals.

The Czechs outshot the United States 27-25, but American goaltender Trey Augustine turned aside 26 in the win. Czechia netminder Michael Hrabal gave up three goals before Moore tallied an empty-netter.

Jakub Stancl netted the lone goal for Czechia to tie it midway through the first period. Eiserman potted the eventual winner in the middle stanza, then Leonard and Moore scored in the final frame.

Perreault and Leonard both finished with a goal and an assist after earning the primary helpers on each other's goals.

Finland denied Sweden a chance at revenge for the 2024 gold-medal game, defeating the Tre Kronor 4-3 in overtime Saturday in the earlier semifinal.