OTTAWA, Ontario — Teddy Stiga scored during a breakaway at 8:04 of the 3-on-3 overtime, leading the United States to a thrilling 4-3 victory over Finland in the championship match of the world junior hockey tournament on Sunday night.
The Boston College forward, who sat out as a healthy scratch at the beginning of the tournament, received a pass from Denver’s Zeev Buium and managed to slide the puck past goalie Petteri Rimpinen’s pads to clinch the win.
“You have to find your role on the team,” Stiga commented. “I tried to contribute in the best way possible to ensure a win. It’s not always about scoring points, but it feels great to cap it off with a goal.”
This victory allowed the U.S. to avenge their earlier 4-3 overtime defeat against Finland in the group stage. The Americans rallied from a two-goal deficit in the second period to secure their second consecutive championship and their seventh overall title.
“It’s amazing—a real dynasty,” exclaimed Ryan Leonard, the team captain from Boston College, who was named the tournament’s MVP. “There’s no better feeling. We aimed to achieve something unprecedented, and it’s just incredible.”
Late in the second period, Boston University teammates Brandon Svoboda and Cole Hutson made key contributions to tie the game. Svoboda recorded a deflected shot to reduce the deficit to 3-2 with 2:22 remaining, followed by Hutson who scored with 29 seconds left while unleashing a wrist shot from the slot.
“Watching the guys experience pure joy is priceless,” stated Denver’s head coach David Carle. “All of it is worth it. I am incredibly proud of them; these memories will last a lifetime.”
Michigan State’s goalie Trey Augustine performed admirably, making a total of 21 saves.
“They played exceptionally well, but we maintained our focus,” Augustine noted. “Being down 3-1 wasn’t ideal, but we capitalized during overtime. This is beyond incredible—there’s no feeling like it. They really challenged us in the first period, but we controlled play in the last 40 minutes and overtime.”
Tuomas Uronen of Finland gave them a 2-1 edge at 6:57 of the first period, just 59 seconds after Boston College’s James Hagens had tied the game. Emil Pieniniemi increased Finland’s lead to 3-1 at 4:52 of the second period.
Jesse Kiiskinen was the one who opened the scoring for Finland at 7:13 into the match.
“We’ve been maturing as the tournament has progressed,” commented Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. “We were so close to winning the most prestigious medal. Not this time, but I feel tremendous pride for my teammates.”
In the third-place match, Eduard Sale scored in the 14th round of a shootout, granting Czechia a 3-2 win over Sweden on Sunday at the world junior championship. The Czech captain successfully beat Marcus Gidlof on his fifth attempt—28th shot total between both teams—with a slick move to his backhand.
The 2026 world junior tournament is set to take place in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.
