The United States won the 2024 World Juniors Championship on Friday, defeating Sweden on its own turf to take home the gold medal. The U.S. followed up a dramatic win over Finland in the semifinal with an impressive 6-2 win over the Swedes in the final.
The United States got through the group stage, but they did survive a scare with a shootout win over Czechia. En route to the gold medal game, the Americans scored a decisive 7-2 win over Latvia in the quarterfinal before coming back from 2-0 down to beat Finland.
The U.S. struck first in the championship game and did not let up. Gabe Perreault got the scoring started in the first period, finishing off a perfect shot pass from teammate Will Smith. In the second period, Isaac Howard found the back of the net twice, and the United States carried a 3-2 lead into the third period.
From there, the Americans turned up the heat and potted three goals in the final frame, including an empty-net goal from Rutger McGroarty to ice the win. Things turned a little ugly late as Sweden took out some of its frustration with Anton Johansson and Lane Hutson exchanging blows, but the U.S. got the last laugh.
Earlier in the day, Czechia defeated Finland to take home the bronze medal. The full results from the 2024 World Juniors Championship can be found below.
2024 World Junior Championship results
Dec. 26
- Slovakia 6, Czechia 2
- Canada 5, Finland 2
- United States 4, Norway 1
- Sweden 6, Latvia 0
Dec. 27
- Slovakia 3, Switzerland 0
- Germany 4, Finland 3
- Czechia 8, Norway 1
- Canada 10, Latvia 0
Dec. 28
- United States 11, Switzerland 3
- Sweden 5, Germany 0
Dec. 29
- Slovakia 9, Norway 8
- Finland 4, Latvia 0
- United States 4, Czechia 3
- Sweden 2, Canada 0
Dec. 30
- Switzerland 6, Norway 2
- Latvia 6, Germany 2
Dec. 31
- United States 10, Slovakia 2
- Finland 5, Sweden 4
- Czechia 4, Switzerland 2
- Canada 6, Germany 3
Jan. 2
- Finland 4, Slovakia 3
- Czechia 3, Canada 2
- United States 7, Latvia 2
- Sweden 3, Switzerland 2
Jan. 4
- Germany 5, Norway 4
- Sweden 5, Czechia 2
- United States 3, Finland 2
Jan. 5
- Third-place game: Czechia 8, Finland 5
- Championship game: United States 6, Sweden 2
