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Sports Feb 01, 2024
Team USA celebrates victory at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in South Korea. | Photo courtesy of Team USA Hockey
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The U.S. won the men’s hockey gold medal at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Wednesday in Gangwon, South Korea, with a 4-0 victory over Czechia, with Zane Torre of Ladera Ranch assisting on the first goal and scoring the last.
Mikey Berchild opened the scoring with a power-play goal 8 minutes, 39 seconds into the first period, off assists by AJ Francisco and Torre.
JP Hurlbert scored 6:04 into the second period off an assist by Logan Stuart of Rancho Palos Verdes. The assist was the third of the tournament for Stuart, a son of retired NHL defenseman Brad Stuart.
Berchild’s second goal of the game — and fourth in the Americans’ four games — gave the U.S. a 3-0 lead with five minutes left in the third period off assists by Parker Trottier and Hurlbert.
Trottier is a grandson of Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier.
Torre scored his third goal of the tournament with 1:35 remaining off assists by Berchild and Hurlbert.
U.S. goaltender Xavier Wendt stopped all 29 shots he faced. Czechia goaltender Jan Larys made 19 saves.
The Americans were outshot, 29-23.
The victory avenged a 6-5 shootout loss in a preliminary round game to Czechia, which is more widely known as the Czech Republic.
The periods were 15 minutes each, five shorter than usual.
The gold medal in men’s hockey was the second for the U.S. in the four Winter Youth Olympic Games. It also won in 2016. The Americans finished second in 2020 and fourth in 2012.
Berchild, Trottier and Wendt are among Torre’s teammates at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s, the bordering school in Faribault, Minnesota, that has produced 42 NHL players and 21 Olympians, including seven gold medalists.
Torre scored 45 goals and had 27 assists for 72 points in 45 games for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks 13-and-under AAA team in the 2021-22 season, then had 42 goals and 49 assists for 91 points in 59 games for Shattuck-Saint Mary’s 14-and-under team in the 2022-23 season.
Stuart had 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 17 games for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings 13-and-under AAA team in the 2021-22 season and 36 goals and 32 assists for 68 points in 27 games for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings 14-and-under AAA team in the 2022-23 season before joining the Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Little Caesars program.
All of the players on the U.S. team are 15 except for Wendt, who turned 16 last Jan. 24, Francisco, who turned 16 Jan. 10, and defenseman Luke Schairer, who turned 16 Tuesday.
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