Team USA’s greatest chance in the opening frame came with 7:48 to go as Andrew O’Neill (Fargo, N.D.) nearly cleaned up a shot from up top by Garrett Lindberg (Moorhead, Minn.), but it floated along the crease and stayed out.

LJ Mooney (West Mifflin, Pa.) came close to breaking the game open early in the second, but starting Waterloo netminder Kambryn Hendrickson dove across the crease to keep it out. Waterloo came down the ice just over a minute later with a look right on the doorstep, but Team USA starting goaltender Patrick Quinlan (Kennett Square, Pa.) denied a pair of looks to keep the score even at zero. Quinlan, once again, made a crucial save to keep the game tied at the 11:38 mark, moving post-to-post to deny the Black Hawks.

Nelson got the scoring started as he potted his 17th of the season with 9:32 to go. Mooney sped up the ice with the puck, dashed towards the middle and found Nelson with a backhand pass before Nelson buried it.

Team USA kept on rolling :27 seconds later as Landon Hafele (Fairbanks, Alaska) picked up a loose puck behind the net and shelved it backhand to go up a pair. The second period scoring didn’t stop there though as McKinney found twine, shorthanded, for his 24th tally of the season. Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.) came out of the box and intercepted a drop pass and took it down the ice before he went around the net and found McKinney up front.