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Photo by Majken Pålsson/Rögle BK
ÄNGELHOLM, Sweden - Cole McKinney (Lake Forest, Ill.) scored with five seconds to play in overtime to give the U.S. National Under-18 Team a 2-1 win over Czechia this afternoon at the 2025 Under-18 Five Nations.
McKinney's marker was his second OT winner in three days at the international competition. Today's winner was eerily reminiscent of Thursday's clincher, a blast of a one-timer from the left circle on a power play. Jack Murtagh (East Greenbush, N.Y.) and Will Moore (Ithaca, N.Y.) assisted on the goal to wrap up Team USA's tournament with a 1-2-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.
The Czechs opened up scoring with a power-play marker 5:45 into the game. Joey Slavick (Westland, Mich.) made a stop on the first attempt, but Tomas Poletin was on the doorstep to pot the rebound for the game's only score of the opening period.
Midway through the second period, Jake Stuart (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had the best opportunity of the day for Team USA, but couldn't get good wood on his one-time attempt alone on the doorstep.
A few rushes later, Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.) ended up behind the defense for a great opportunity off a feed from Andrew O'Neill (Fargo, N.D.), but the former's shot was stonewalled by the left pad of Tobias Trejbal.
After doubling up the Czechs in shots in the first frame with a 16-8 advantage, Team USA held a 40-minute lead at 29-14 in shots on net.
Team USA evened up the score on a fervent penalty kill as Jacob Kvasnicka (Wayzata, Minn.) got in alone and converted at 11:06 of the third. McKinney duped the Czech defense to think he was going back into his zone, but instead found a cutting Kvasnicka who went in alone and finished top-shelf over the glove for a shorthanded marker to make it a 1-1 game.
The U.S. was stout defensively late in regulation, including a penalty kill, to force overtime where McKinney ended it with his second game-winning goal in three days.
Slavick finished with 25 stops to pick up his second win of the competition and sixth of the season. Kvasnicka was named the U.S. Player of Game.
The U18s finish out their Five Nations with a 1-2-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record to stand third in the tournament.