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Photo by Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto
HELSINKI, Finland - Casey Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) and Logan Staurt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) scored, but the U.S. National Under-17 Team dropped a 4-2 final to Sweden this afternoon from Helsinki Ice Hall to open the 2025 February Under-17 Five Nations Tournament.
Team USA came out hot, outshooting the Swedes by a 14-6 count after the opening 20. AJ Garcia (Romeoville, Ill.) had an excellent look on a 2-on-1 with Lukas Zajic (Plainfield, Ill.) with five minutes left in the period, but Milo Tjärnlund proved equal to the task with a blocker save.
Luke Carrithers (Maple Grove, Minn.) turned aside all six shots he saw in the period.
Sweden broke the ice 3:34 into the second stanza with an Axel Elofsson toe-drag release off the rush.
U.S. captain Mutryn found a response only 30 seconds later after Sammy Nelson (Maple Grove, Minn.) fed Wyatt Cullen (Moorhead, Minn.) a no-look pass in the zone and Cullen found Mutryn for the one-timer finish.
Nils Bartholdsson regained the Swedish lead with a score from the left dot at 9:41, then Marcus Nordmark made it a 3-1 game 3:52 into the final frame, skating into the slot to beat Carrithers.
Stuart brought the U.S. back within one just eight seconds later after Jamie Glance (Stratham, N.H.) intercepted a Swedish pass at center ice and outskated all five Swedes to fire a shot on net. Tjärnlund made the initial stop, but Stuart grabbed the rebound for the finish.
The U.S. pulled Carrithers with 48 seconds to play for the extra skater, but an Ludvig Andersson empty netter put the game on ice.
With the loss, Team USA falls to 0-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in tournament play. Carrithers finished with 22 saves and Mutryn was named the U.S. Player of Game.
Team USA continues play in the tournament tomorrow against host Finland. Puck drop is set for 11:30 a.m. ET from Helsinki Ice Hall and the game can be streamed live on Leijonat.