U17s Down Finland, 6-3, in Five Nations

USA Hockey National Team Development Program

U17s Down Finland, 6-3, in Five Nations

By USA Hockey's NTDP, 02/06/25, 1:45PM EST

Knowling earns first career win; Schairer adds four assists

Photo by Ronald Hansel

HELSINKIA, Finland - Brady Knowling (Chicago, Ill.) earned his first career win and Luke Schairer (Charlotte, N.C.) tallied four assists as the U.S. National Under-17 Team topped host Finland, 6-3, this evening from Helsinki Ice Hall in its second game of the 2025 February Under-17 Five Nations Tournament.

A Parker Trottier (Edina, Minn.) shorthanded marker kicked off scoring with 1:44 left in the first. Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Twp., Mich.) wrestled the puck free behind the U.S. net towards Logan Stuart (Manhattan Beach, Calif) along the boards . Stuart chipped it up to Trottier, who flew into the zone for a breakaway finish to earn his first career goal.

Box Score

Game Photos

Photos by Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto

Noel Pakarien knotted the game 9:08 into the second with a rebound score, but Dayne Beuker (Portland, Ore.) regained Team USA's lead minutes later on the power play. Schairer fed Victor Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) in front of the U.S. bench and Plante found Bueker, who went forehand-backhand to beat Finnish tender William Gammals.

Plante gave Team USA a two-goal lead just 1:31 later with a blast from the top of the right circle off a dish from Beuker. Schairer set-up the play to earn an assist as well.

Luka Arkko brought the Finns back within one at the period's 14:56 mark with a power-play goal of his own, but it was Sammy Nelson (Maple Grove, Minn.) this time who restored the two-goal lead, playing catch with Schairer before ripping a one-timer from the point. Casey Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) also earned an assist on the power-play score with nine seconds left in the period.

A Viljo Kähkönen power-play goal 5:45 into the final stanza made it a 4-3 contest.

Lukas Zajic (Plainfield, Ill.) added a fifth to the U17s' tally less than a minute later. AJ Garcia (Romeoville, Ill.) intercepted a Finnish clearing attempt and found Zajic in the high slot, who beat Gammals with a nice toe-drag release.

Plante made the 6-3 final with a shorthanded marker in the final five minutes after Nelson sniped the puck from a Finnish defender. The pair skated into the zone on a three-on-two and Plante flipped the puck glove-side just outside the paint for his second of the night.

With the win, Team USA improves to 1-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in tournament play. Knowling finished with 15 saves and Schairer was named the U.S. Player of Game.

Team USA continues play in the tournament tomorrow against Switzerland. Puck drop is set for 11:30 a.m. ET from Helsinki Ice Hall and the game can be streamed live on Leijonat.