Czechia upsets US in the quarterfinals, Americans finish fifth at World Juniors

EDMONTON, Alberta — After going undefeated in the preliminary round and being ranked first in Group B, the U.S. fell 4-2 to Czechia on Wednesday night to see its World Junior Championship tournament come to an end.

Twelve minutes and three seconds into the game, Logan Cooley got things going for the U.S., giving it the early 1-0 edge. Just over five minutes later, Czechia would answer back with a goal from Jan Mysak to tie things up.

With the score 1-1 heading into the second, Czechia kept its foot on the gas and took its first lead of the night as Petr Hauser found the back of the net for a 2-1 advantage. Two and a half minutes later, Czechia would strike again with Matyas Sapovaliv making it a 3-1 game.

Down two goals heading into the third, the U.S. had to step up. A couple minutes into the final frame, an array of penalties were exchanged on both teams. Two of the most notable calls were a five-minute major on Czechia for kneeing Logan Cooley, and a game misconduct on Stanislav Svozil . While on the power play, Carter Mazur scored for the U.S. to bring the Americans within one at 3-2. With just under two minutes left to play, the U.S. pulled its goalie and brought out the extra attacker, but it was Czechia's Jiri Kulich who scored on the empty net.

Canada will take on Czechia and Sweden will face Finland in the 2022 World Juniors semifinals.