U.S. Falls to Czechia, 5-3, in U17 Four Nations Tournament Championship Game

By USA Hockey, 08/09/25, 7:30PM EDT

Team USA finishes second at the tournament

PLYMOUTH, Mich. – Despite a pair of assists from Brooks DeMars (Hugo, Minn.) and goals from three different players, the U.S. Under-17 Men’s Select Team fell in the championship game of the 2025 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament to Czechia, 5-3, here today at USA Hockey Arena.

“We had an unbelievable group of kids and a great staff,” said Jason Guerriero (Manorville, N.Y.), head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Men’s Select Team. “We came up a little bit short, but we hope the guys take a lot from this experience. All these players got better over the nine days they were here.”

Adam Nemec opened the scoring for Czechia 4:42 into the first, capitalizing on a breakaway chance after a U.S. dump-in attempt took an unfortunate bounce.

The U.S. responded :28 later, as Colin Grubb (Minot, N.D.) fired a one-timer from the right faceoff circle following a cross-ice pass from Jake Prunty (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) past Czech netminder Vaclav Osvald.

Logan Anderson (Estero, Fla.) nearly gave Team USA the lead on a breakaway chance with 8:09 remaining but his shot went just wide.

GAME PHOTOS

Michael Tang (New York, N.Y.) backhanded a shot past Osvald following a centering feed from DeMars :15 into a power play to give Team USA a 2-1 lead with 5:15 left in the first.

Czechia tied the contest with 1:31 to play, as Melichar Kovar scored on a shot from the slot.

Lukas Hajek regained the lead for the Czechs at 3:29 of the second, backhanding a bouncing puck into the net after a shot from Nemec hit the post. Czechia struck again :35 later on a shot from the slot from Jonas Vanicek.

Ty Bergeron (Flat Rock, Mich.) pulled the U.S. within one at 9:30 of the middle stanza, poking a loose puck in the Czechia crease home, capitalizing on a head-up play from DeMars, who centered the puck from behind the net.

Nemec added his second of the game with 10:59 remaining to give Czechia a 5-3 advantage.

U.S. netminder Mason Courville (Palmyra, Pa.) kept the U.S. within two with a sprawling stop on a following a cross-ice pass with 2:53 to play. He finished the contest with 25 saves.

NOTES: Brooks DeMars was named U.S. Player of the Game … Czechia outshot Team USA, 30-25 … The U.S. went 1-for-5 on the power play while Czechia went 0-for-4.