The U.S. improved to 1-0-0-1 with a win over Finland and will face Switzerland on Friday.
The U.S. National U17 team downed host Finland 6-3 Thursday evening at the 2025 February Under-17 Five Nations Tournament at Helsinki Ice Hall.
It was Team USA’s second game of the tournament, having suffered a loss at the hands of Sweden a day earlier.
Brady Knowling notched his first career victory in net and Luke Schairer tallied four assists for the Americans.
A shorthanded goal by Parker Trottier put the U.S. ahead 1-0 with 1:44 left in the opening period. Logan Stuart received a pass along the boards then slipped it to Trottier, who raced into the zone on a breakaway and scored his first career goal.
The Finns tied the score 9:08 into the middle frame when Noel Pakarinen scored on a rebound.
Dayne Beuker regained the lead for the Americans 2-1 minutes later on a power-play opportunity. Schairer fed Victor Plante in front of Team USA’s bench. Plante found Beuker, who did a forehand/backhand move to beat Finnish goalie William Gammals.
Plante increased his team’s lead to 3-1 1:31 later, firing a missile from the top of the right circle off a Beuker feed. Schairer earned an assist after setting up the play.
Finland didn’t give up. Luka Arkko trimmed the deficit to 3-2 at 14:56 of the middle frame on a power-play goal.
Sammy Nelson pushed the Americans’ lead back to a two-goal cushion after blasting in a one-timer from the point with less than 10 seconds left in the second period. Schairer added another assist, as did Casey Mutryn.
At 5:45 of the third, Viljo Kahkonen netted a power-play goal to narrow the margin at 4-3. Lukas Zajic got the two-goal lead right back less than a minute later on a toe-drag release from the high slot, after receiving a pass from AJ Garcia, who intercepted a clearing attempt by the Finns.
Plante’s shorthanded marker came in the last five minutes of the third period, after Nelson stole the puck from a Finnish defender. After skating into the zone on a three-on-two, Plante put the puck in past Gammals glove-side for the 6-3 final.
Schairer was named the U.S. Player of the Game, while Knowling finished with 15 saves.
Team USA moves its record in the tournament to 1-0-0-1 and will face Switzerland on Friday. Puck drop is set for 11:30 Am ET.