USA Dominant in 5-0 Win Over Russia to Advance to Finals

The United States of America are off to the World Junior A Challenge finals after a 5-0 victory over Russia on Thursday afternoon.

The Americans were the favorites from the get go and they'd score first. Four minutes into the battle, Sam Hentges escaped from the penalty box and came in on Amir Miftakhof all alone, just hitting the post. About eight minutes later, though, his team wouldn't be stopped as Paul Cotter took a pass from Jack Dugan beside the net and fired it glove side on Miftakhof, giving the Americans the 1-0 advantage before the end of the first period.

A scramble to the side of the Russian net early in the second allowed the Americans to take the 2-0 advantage. This time, multiple players touched the puck before Hentges got the final touch on the play, putting the Americans up to two goals to give them a lead that would be tough for the Russians to catch back up to.

The Russians seemed to mail it in near the end of the period, allowing three goals as time ran out. Madden put up his second of the game at 53:55 when he picked up the pass from Alex Steeves, knocking it in to seal the deal for his country. Two minutes after, Nathan Smith sent a quick shot in after an open-lane pass in the slot, easily beating Miftakhof to make it 4-0. Dugan would score one more in the final minute of the game, finishing off the impressive 5-0 victory in a rather slow affair.

With the win, USA will play the winner of Canada West and the Czech Republic in the gold medal game on Saturday, with hopes of repeating last year's result on the line. The Russians will play in the bronze medal game on Friday afternoon, with the team still in search of their first ever gold medal at the event continuing on.

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