The United States and Latvia are meeting for just the third time in IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship history with the U.S. leading the all-time series, 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L). Their last meeting resulted in a 7-1 win by the U.S. on April 21, 2013 at the Bolshoy Ice Down in Sochi.
Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Mich.) lead the way notching two goals and adding two assists in the win. Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) also chipped in with two tallies and Kevin Labanc (Staten Island, N.Y.), Evan Allen (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Tommy Vannelli (Minnetonka, Minn.) all recorded single markers. Thatcher Demko (San Diego, Calif.) was named best player for Team USA and stopped 21-of-22 shots against.
Prior to that, the first meeting between the two countries ended 8-0 in favor of the United States on April 17, 2007 in Rauma, Finland. The Ron Rolston led squad opened the contest with four goals in the first frame, and Josh Unice (Holland, Ohio) was perfect between the pipes, making 19 total saves. Patrick White (Grand Rapids, Minn.) and Justin Vaive (Buffalo, N.Y.) netted two goals each, while James van Riemsdyk (Middleton, N.J.), C.J. Severyn (Beaver, Pa.), Colin Wilson (Greenwich, Conn.) and Ryan Hayes (Syracuse, N.Y.) had single tallies.
