ST. PAUL, Minn. — While the end of 2025 didn’t go quite as planned for the U.S. National Junior Team as Sweden bested the U.S., 6-3, Team USA is turning the page and excited to battle Finland tomorrow in the quarterfinals.

“The real tournament starts now,” said U.S. head coach Bob Motzko.

While the loss stung for the U.S., it is a familiar spot for some of the players in the locker room.

At last year’s tournament, the Americans lost to Finland 4-3 in overtime during the preliminary round before reversing that result against the Finns in the gold-medal game. 

“It’s good to get the loss out of the way. Kind of frees you up so you're gripping your stick a little less tight,” said Teddy Stiga, who scored the overtime goal to secure gold at last year’s tournament.

Heading into the quarterfinals, Motzko said Team USA will need to rely on the players from last year’s team to help this group bounce back. He mentioned that a few of those veterans are finding their offensive game at the right time.

Throughout the preliminary round, Stiga put himself in great positions to score but couldn’t find the back of the net in the opening three games. The Boston College sophomore tallied his first goal of the tournament in the third period against Sweden.

His Boston College teammate James Hagens — who tallied nine points in seven games last year — scored twice in a 6-5 win against Slovakia on Monday, which were his first goals of the tournament. Meanwhile, captain Brodie Ziemer has consistently been on his game, Motzko said, and leads the team with five assists.

The U.S. planned to enter World Juniors with nine players from last year’s gold medal-winning team. However, Trevor Connelly suffered an injury in a pre-tournament game against Germany that forced him off the roster.

Injuries to veteran players have continued to pile up for Team USA during the tournament. Cole Hutson, who tallied a tournament-high 11 points last year, left the game against Switzerland after getting hit in the head with a puck. An injury then forced Max Plante to leave the game against Slovakia.

Motzko said Hutson will likely be back for tomorrow’s game against Finland, but he doesn’t expect Plante to return.

Multiple newcomers have stepped up for Team USA thus far, but none have made a stronger first impression than Will Zellers. The North Dakota freshman has scored in every game and is tied with Tomas Chrenko of Slovakia with a tournament-high five goals.

Zellers said he gained a lot of weight this offseason once he got to North Dakota, which helped add power to his shot. He entered this tournament full of confidence after scoring 10 goals in his first 18 collegiate games, and that’s turned into a goal-scoring tear at World Juniors.

Zellers is carrying on a recent tradition of Maple Grove, Minnesota, natives who’ve played for the U.S. Junior National Team. His friend Colin Ralph helped the U.S. win gold last year, and Zellers said he fondly remembers watching Brock Faber win gold in 2021.

Playing less than 30 miles from his hometown adds even more significance to this tournament for Zellers.

“I saw a kid in a Maple Grove sweatshirt out there for warmups [before the Slovakia game]. It’s so special to know you’re backed by kids that you were in their shoes not too long ago,” he said.

Zellers has dreamed of playing in this tournament since he was 10 years old and remembered watching players like Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras lift the U.S. to gold in 2017 and 2021, respectively. With the knockout round starting tomorrow, he’s three wins away from achieving that feat himself. 

“You watch these games, and you watch all these teams, and all those guys are champions,” he said. “You want to cement your name and be a gold medalist for the United States.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.