The opening period went by without a score or any grade-A chances on either side. U18 netminder Nick Kempf (Chicago, Ill.) turned aside all eight RoughRiders attempts while James Norton was 3-for-3 in his opportunities. 

Team USA broke through on their fourth shot of the night, just 92 seconds into the middle frame as Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.) netted his 24th goal of the season. Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.) led James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.) into the offensive zone along the left wing. He came to a stop and threaded a pass through three RoughRiders on the money to Ziemer, who potted in the top left corner for a 1-0 lead. 

Cedar Rapids found the equalizer a little more than three minutes as Isaac Johnson connected on a second chance in front after the initial hsot from Amine Hajibi. 

The U18s countered with a pair of goals in 13 seconds to take a 3-1 lead before the midway mark of the game. First, it was Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) who found the back of the net with a beautiful hesitation move around the goaltender before sliding it into the open cage. He was set up by Hagens and Noah Lapointe (Hinsdale, Ill.) on the goal at 6:49.

Shortly after, Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) connected from the right faceoff dot with a rocket of a wrister for his 47th tally of the year. Kamil Bednarik (Chicago, Ill.) set up the score after a great forecheck from he and Christian Humphreys (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Lapointe was credited with the secondary helper giving him his first multi-point effort of the season.