Team USA, Sweden Earn Wins on Five Nations Opening Day

PLYMOUTH, Mich. – Games wrapped on the first day of the 2024 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament from USA Hockey Arena with a 6-5 overtime victory sending Sweden past arch-rival Finland in the first contest of the tournament and Team USA besting Switzerland by a 7-1 count in the second half of the day's action.

Sweden 6, Finland 5 (OT)

Finland's Aatos Koivu was the first to light the lamp off a nifty play by Daniel Nieminen 4:09 in, but Anton Frondell found the answer for the Swedes just 13 seconds later, connecting with Felix Öhrqvist and beating Axel Nyman with a one-timer. But Nieminen then added a score of his own, netting a power-play marker on the doorstep, to make it a 2-1 game heading into the second.

Sweden tied things yet again 1:32 into the middle frame as Viggo Nordlund potted one from just outside the paint. Saarelainen regained the Finnish lead under one minute later off a pass in front from Roope Veesterinen. Juho Keinanen made it a 4-2 game, picking up a loose puck and burying it, but Melvin Fernström brought Sweden within one to close the second stanza, accepting a feed from Alex Zetterberg with 3:28 to play.

A wraparound goal from Saarelainen opened the third's scoring to take a 5-3 advantage, but a Jack Berglund shorthanded tally capitalizing on a Finnish defensive breakdown brought Sweden back within one, then Anton Frondell scored with 1:21 to play to force overtime.

Berglund scored the game-winner 44 seconds into extra time with an incredible solo effort, skating into the zone on a three-on-one and beating Kim Saarinen with a forehand-backhand move.

Berglund was named the Swedish Player of the Game, while Saarelainen earned the honors for Team Finland.

Nyman finished with 26 saves to pick up the win, improving Team Sweden's record to 0-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L), while Saarinen had 23 in the Finnish net, and Team Finland fell to a 0-0-1-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record in tournament play.

USA 7, SWITZERLAND 1

After the first 20 combined shots of the night were stopped by USA's Jack Parsons and Switzerland's Christian Kirsch, the U18s finally broke the ice with less than a minute to play in the opening period. On a 3-on-1 breakout, Brodie Ziemer found Teddy Stiga for the first shot that was pushed aside by Kirsch. But Kamil Bednarik was waiting on the doorstep for the put-back score to give Team USA a lead into the first intermission.

The same trio of forwards teamed up to double the lead just 25 seconds into the middle stanza. Stiga broke up an attempted Swiss breakout and ended up with the first shot of a drop-pass from Bednarik. Kirsch made a pad save but Ziemer made no mistake on the second chance to extend the lead to 2-0.

Cole Eiserman made it three in a row for Team USA on home ice with a power-play marker at 3:09. Max Plante was first to a puck that was chipped up high in the air. He found Eiserman stationed at the right circle, where he wired a one-timer past Kirsch for his 35th score of the season.

Switzerland ended the U.S. run after Jamiro Reber found Nolan Cattin on a 2-on-1 break, who deposited his shot in the back of the net to make it a 3-1 game.

Team USA answered the score just 44 seconds later as Stiga intercepted a pass and ripped a wrister over the glove of Kirsch for his third point of the game.

Stiga made it back-to-back scores as he notched another less than three minutes later. Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen grabbed the puck before it left the attacking zone, wove in between a pair of Swiss defenders and found Stiga for a one-timer from the right circle.

Defenseman Cole Hutson used some great stick-handling to carve an open lane for his shot through the five-hole of Kirsch to close the second. He was set up by Lucas Van Vliet and John Whipple to take a 6-1 lead after 40 minutes of action.

USA's Austin Baker added a late power-play score with just 37 seconds to play for the 7-1 final. Will Skahan found a waiting Baker right on the doorstep and the future Spartan potted his first of the tournament. Rheaume-Mullen picked up his second helper of the night on the play.

Parsons finished his evening with 19 saves on 20 Swiss shots, helping the U.S. to a 1-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record to start the tournament, while Team Switzerland fell to 0-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L).

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