2010-11 National Men's Under-18 Team

CRIMMITSCHAU, Germany -Tyler Biggs scored in overtime to earn the United States a thrilling 5-4 semifinalwin over Canada at the world under-18 hockey championship. The loss was a heart-breaking one for theCanadians, who valiantly rallied from a 4-1 third-period deficit to force overtime.
 

“It hurts,'' Canadian team head coach Mike Williamson said Saturday after theloss. “But our guys buckled down and they believed.

“I'm so proud of them for holding together and finding a way to get that hockey game back.''

Biggs beat Canadian goalie Malcolm Subban on a wrist shot at 4:22 of a wide-open 10-minute overtimeperiod.

The Canadians outshot the U.S. 5-3 in overtime and had two glorious scoring chances early in the extrasession. That would've capped a most improbable comeback considering short-handed goals by Zach Larraza andReid Boucher staked the unbeaten Americans to a seemingly safe 4-1 advantage early in the third.

“It's pretty tough to go into a hockey game and give up two short-handed goals and expect to win,''Williamson said. “We just gave them a little bit of time and space on a couple of plays and we had a fewopportunities that didn't find their way into the back of the net.

“I do believe either team could be advancing but in the end it's them and not us.''

Brett Ritchie began the comeback with a power-play goal at 9:15 of the period. And with Subban on thebench for an extra attacker while on a power play, the Canadians pulled to within 4-3 on Ryan Murphy's goalwith 1:35 remaining in regulation time.

Canada then tied it on Mark Scheifele's goal with 53 seconds to play and Subban, who stopped 37 shots, onthe bench.

Boucher finished the game with two goals for the Americans, who improved to 7-2 all-time against Canada inthis event. J.T. Miller had the other.

The U.S. will chase a third straight tournament title Sunday when it faces off against Sweden. Canadasquares off against Russian for the bronze medal.

And Williamson said Russia will ice a very talented and competitive squad in the bronze medal game.

“They're very, very skilled,'' he said. `”At times they're patient and wait for you to make a mistake andother times they push the pace.

“Mentally we have to be very strong and like we've said all along we have to keep the game out of themiddle of the ice and keep it against the wall and be hard on them if they come into the middle.''

Williamson said while the Canadian team's ultimate goal was to play for the gold medal, he doesn't expectmotivation to be a problem Sunday against Russia.

“This is a proud group and they showed that,'' Williamson said. “We came here for a gold medal so we'reall hurting right now and it was really a big kick in the guts.

“But we'll get our rest and we'll get our sleep and hopefully the character of the team will continue toshine and we'll play our best game. That's all we can ask for.''

Penalties:
   02:47 USA 8 Robbie Russo (Tripping)
   03:52 USA 14 Reid Boucher (Delay of Game)
   15:51 USA 25 Dan Carlson (Boarding)

Penalties:
   00:16 CAN 17 Colin Smith (10-Minute Misconduct)
   04:30 CAN 7 Daniel Catenacci (Boarding)
   04:55 CAN 9 Brent Andrews (High Sticking)
   11:06 CAN 5 Ryan Murray (Slashing)

Penalties:
   05:53 USA 23 Rocco Grimaldi (Hooking)
   08:41 USA 22 Tyler Biggs (Roughing)
   17:51 USA 18 Cole Bardreau (Delay of Game)

Penalties:
   None