Lukas Zajic (Plainfield, Ill.) had a great chance nearly five minutes into the contest on a breakaway opportunity, but Des Moines goaltender Max Weilandt made was equal to the task.

It was the Buccaneers who struck first with a Jack Kernan shorthanded tally on a breakaway of his own 6:12 in.

Glance tied things at 1-1 with 14 seconds left in the period, netting a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle off a feed from Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.) after Dayne Beuker (Portland, Ore.) forced a turnover in the U.S. zone.

A Richard Baran score regained the Buccaneers' lead with one second left on a power play at 13:29 of the middle frame, then Andrew Clarke made it 3-1 game 2:45 later.

Sammy Nelson (Maple Grove, Minn.) cut Des Moines' lead to one with a redirect off an initial shot by Wyatt Cullen (Moorhead, Minn.) just 1:21 into the final stanza. Sam Wathier (Des Moines, Iowa) tallied an assist on the goal as well.

The U.S. pulled netminder Joey Slavick (Westland, Mich.) with 1:29 for the extra skater, but were unable to capitalize for a 3-2 final.

The U17s will head to Finland next week for their second international break of the season as the team looks to take home their first championship as a birth year at the 2024 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament.