The U.S. will now face the Czech Republic in the semifinal on Saturday. Opening faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. local (10:30 a.m. ET) and can be seen live on NHL Network.

“I thought our defense did a great job handling the speed and talent of Russia’s line rushes,” said Seth Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn./USAH NTDP), head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team. “We’ve done a really good job offensively throughout this tournament and our continued focus on improving our defensive play will help us keep getting better in every game we play.”

Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis./USAH NTDP) got the U.S. on the board at 8:47 of the opening frame by wristing a low shot off a 2-on-1 rush. Jake Wise (Reading, Mass./USAH NTDP) and Ty Emberson (Eau Claire, Wis./USAH NTDP) earned assists on the play.

Team USA killed off a penalty late in the period to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Russia answered at 2:26 of the second period to knot the game at 1-1.

The game remained tied until Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y./USAH NTDP) scored a shorthanded goal at 12:55 of the third period to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. Spencer Stastney (Mequon, Wis./USAH NTDP) picked up an assist on the play after clearing the puck to the neutral zone on a defensive zone faceoff.

Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass./USAH NTDP) gathered a rebound off a Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla./USAH NTDP) shot and knocked it past Russian goaltender Amir Miftakhov 4:27 later to widen the U.S. lead to 3-1. Stastney also earned his second assist of the night on the play.

Wise and Hughes both added unassisted empty net goals down the stretch to account for the 5-1 final.

U.S. goaltender Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn./USAH NTDP) stopped 16 of 17 shots to earn his second victory of the tournament.

NOTES:  Farabee was named the U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA went 0-1 on the power play and shut down Russia on their two power play attempts … Team USA is now 7-1-0-10 (W-OTW-OTL-L) against Russia all-time in the U18 Men’s World Championship … The U.S. is now 10-0-1-0 in quarterfinal games  ... The U.S. enters the tournament having captured a record 14 consecutive medals, including gold medals in seven of the last nine years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017) ... Team USA has won 10 gold medals all-time, the most of any country in IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship history. The event began in 1999. Team USA earned its first gold medal in 2002 ... For complete tournament information, visit the IIHF website. Team USA News, interviews, highlights and more can be found on the Team USA website ... For complete tournament information, visit the IIHF website ... Follow @USAHockey on Twitter for live scoring updates during the tournament. Scores will be designated with the #U18Worlds tag ... For additional coverage, visit the USA Hockey Facebook page and Instagram account.