Europe Falls at WJC

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After finishing the world juniors round robin 8-1-1, good for first place in the tournament heading into the medal round, Team Europe let their guard down at the most important time. Despite boasting a 39-31 edge in shots, the European squad could not solve Olober Syko, who made 38 saves on 39 shots for Team USA and led them to a 2-1 upset victory. The Americans had earlier defeated Team Canada in the wildcard game to earn a chance to play Europe. USA's Chris Sanzone scored both goals to help lift an elated American squad into the gold medal game.

 

Expectations were high coming into the tournament, as the Europeans have owned the event recently. They had appeared in the past six gold medal games going back to S85, and won five of those six, including the last three in a row. Unfortunately for this group of players, they will be a part of history for the wrong reasons as those streaks have come to an end.

 

"It's never what you set out for; obviously we have had a lot of success at this tournament recently and you come here with an expectation to win, not to play for bronze. But full credit to those guys, they played hard and their goalie stood on his head and they took advantage of their opportunities when they came. They played a great game, they earned it, but yeah it always hurts to lose that chance to play for gold," said Europe centre Phillip Rave after the loss.