U.S. Rallies to Beat Slovakia, 4-3, and Win Under-17 Five Nations Tournament

By USA Hockey, 08/18/24, 11:30AM EDT

Noah Davidson scores twice, including game-winner with goalie pulled

PIESTANY, Slovakia – Noah Davidson (Irvine, Calif.) scored twice, including the game-winner with 1:41 to play, as the U.S. Under-17 Select Team earned a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Slovakia here today and won the 2024 Under 17 Five Nations Tournament.

“I’m really proud of our group,” said Joe Bonnett (Colorado Springs, Colo.), head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Select Team. “They battled. It was a very tight game and the Slovaks played unbelievably well. Our guys stuck with the process, focused on each shift, stayed together as a team and stayed positive. And now they can celebrate a championship.”

Heading into the contest, which was the last game of the event, the U.S. needed a win in regulation to earn the Five Nations title. With the game tied at 3-3 and 2:09 to play, the U.S. pulled goaltender Xavier Wendt (Plymouth, Minn.) for an extra attacker and Davidson found the upper corner of the net from the bottom of the left circle :28 later to lift Team USA to the victory.

While the U.S. had a 10-7 shots-on-goal advantage, the only goal of the opening frame came off the stick of Slovakia’s Matej Beres at 7:20 as his shot from the right point through traffic found its way past Wendt.

GAME PHOTOS

Slovakia took a 2-0 lead at 13:52 of the second period when Samuel Hybsky wristed one to the back of the net from the right point. Team USA got back in the game with 3:04 left in the stanza when a shot from Ryan Poirier (Salem, N.H.) from the far side of the left circle beat Slovakia netminder Samuel Hrenak as he was attempting to get back to the front of the net.

The U.S. opened the third period with 1:46 of power play time and had sustained pressure but could not solve Hrenak. That changed at 5:46 when Davidson converted from the left circle on the power play to tie the game at 2-2. Jack Hextall (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) earned an assist on the play. Adam Obusek scored on the power play at 9:43 to put Slovakia back in front, but just :42 later, Kalder Varga (Geneva, Ill.) beat Hrenak from the top of the crease to even the score. Hextall had the lone assist.

The set the stage for Davidson’s heroics with William Bent (Dover, Mass.) and Joseph Salandra (Pleasantville, N.Y.) picking up assists on the game-winning play. Team USA outshot Slovakia by a 23-6 count in the final 20 minutes.

Wendt earned the win in net for the U.S. and had 21 saves.

NOTES: Jack Hextall was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot Slovakia, 45-24 … Team USA was 1-6 on the power play, while Slovakia was 1-5 … The U.S. finished the Five Nations Tournament with a 3-1 record.