Qualification acquired, Jack Capuano decides to rotate his workforce. Forced, first of all: the injury of captain Justin Abdelkader puts 18-year-old Matty Beniers back in the lineup. Boyle replaces Abdelkader with the “C”, but his predecessor is on the bench with the coaches and his crutches. Capuano also decides to play with 8 defenders, inserting Ryan Shean and Adam Clendening to the detriment of Matt Hellickson.
Italian side, little change, with Thomas Galimberti in place of Markus Gander.
Under pressure, Italy received a miracle save from Fadani in the fifth minute. Out of position on the left, the goalkeeper quickly moves to the opposite and places his butt halfway up… he fends off a shot from Zac Jones with the cage wide open.
The U.S. came THIS close to taking an early lead. #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/EKmWXDovMo
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) June 1, 2021
The Americans clearly dominate the first third time and open the scoring after seven minutes. Ryan Shea, on his tournament debut, intercepts a high pass from Alex Petan halfway up and sends Kevin Labanc on a breakaway. The shot over the boot wins (0-1).
Unfortunately for Fadani, the bombardment continued and he gave in four minutes later. Matty Beniers wins in the corner and finds a superb pass to Labanc, whose precise wrist shot in height hits the mark (0-2).
Beautiful setup on Labanc’s snipe, his second of the day! #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/sjugFBoHw3
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) June 1, 2021
The third ends with a third goal. Robertson pivots and serves Garland who patiently puts a defender then the keeper on the ground before shooting (0-3).
Wait for it… waaaait for it… pic.twitter.com/F7JQa68MPN
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) June 1, 2021
With a 19-2 shooting and 3-0 in the score, the United States managed quietly, but were surprised as soon as the restart. An Italian counter led by Frigo on the left wing ends under the leg of Oettinger (1-3).
However, the puck remains mostly in favor of Boyle’s teammates. Garland takes advantage of an error by Trivellato in the position of last defender to offer himself a duel with Fadani, feint him and widen the gap (1-4).
This second third will have had so few whistles that no televised time-out will have been called!
In the third period, Giliati reduced the mark to four-against-four, overflowing Garland on the right wing before deceiving the ice-cold goalkeeper between the legs with a pivot shot (2-4).
Nothing will be marked, with a solid Fadani, especially on a beautiful mitten of a shot from Jones.
Victory without forcing the Americans, who are now preparing for a quarter-final against Slovakia. Italy ends their tournament without any victory, but with the maintenance …
Post-match comments:
Kevin Labanc (United States forward): “The objective in every tournament in this jersey is to play the finals and a medal. I arrived without knowing anyone, but now they’re my brothers and it’s a lot of fun. We are proud of our position and we will make sure to beat whoever comes in front of us. “
Brian Boyle (USA captain): “This tournament is a sprint. There are a lot of variables, in order to know who faces whom. Lots of intensity, manage recovery and control what’s in your power. Lots of hockey in a short period of time, but it’s the same for everyone. “
Luca Frigo (Italy striker): “It was difficult for us, especially at the training camp. We had cases of covid from the early days. But I am proud of our fighting spirit, especially of the younger players. They were participating for the first time and had to face it all. For the pre-Olympic tournament in August, we will have a better camp and we will come with the aim of qualifying. It was very important for us to face these kinds of teams and great players. Rather, we did a good job, respected the system and grown as a team. We are looking forward to the next tournament. “
Italy – United States (0-3, 1-1, 1-0)
World Championships, group B. Tuesday June 1, 2021, 4:15 p.m. Arena Riga, Latvia. No spectators.
Arbitration by Yevgeni Romasko (RUS) and Max Sidorenko (BLR) assisted by Dmitri Golyak (BLR) and Gleb Lazarev (RUS)
Penalties: Italy 4 ′ (0 ′, 0 ′, 4 ′), United States 6 ′ (2 ′, 0 ′, 4 ′)
Shots: Italy 11 (2, 5, 4), USA 43 (19, 10, 14)
Summary of the score
0-1 to 06’54: Labanc assisted by Shea
0-2 to 10’33: Labanc assisted by Beniers and Clendening
0-3 at 19’45: Garland assisted by Robertson and Tennyson
1-3 at 21’01: Trivellato assisted refrigerator
1-4 to 29’54: Garland
2-4 at 46’33: Giliati
Italy
Attackers:
Daniel Frank (C, -1) – Alex Petan (A, +1) – Angelo Miceli
Stefano Giliati (-2) – Raphael Andergassen (-4) – Ivan Deluca (-3)
Luca Frigo (A, 2 ‘, +1) – Anthony Bardaro (+1) – Marco Magnabosco
Thomas Galimberti – Simon Pitschieler – Peter Hochkofler
Defenders:
Alex Trivellato (+1) – Phil Pietroniro (-1)
Peter Spornberger – Daniel Glira (-1)
Lorenzo Casetti (+1) – Enrico Miglioranzi (-2)
Stefano Marchetti (2 ‘, -1) – Gregorio Gios (-1)
Guardian:
Davide Fadani
In reserve: Justin Fazio (L), Damian Clara (L), Sebastiano Soracreppa (R), Marco Rosa (concussion), Markus Gander (A).
United States
Attackers:
Jason Robertson (+1) – Trevor Moore – Conor Garland (2′)
Ryan Donato – Jack Drury – Tage Thompson (2′)
Colin Blackwell (A, +2) – Matty Beniers (+2) – Kevin Labanc (+2)
Eric Robinson – Kevin Rooney – Brian Boyle (C, 2′)
Defenders
Christian Wolanin (-1) – Matt Roy (A, -1)
Zac Jones (+1) – Matt Tennyson (+1)
Connor Mackey – Chris Wideman (-1)
Ryan Shea (+3) – Adam Clendening (+2)
Goalkeeper: Jake Oettinger
Alternate: Cal Petersen (L). In reserve: Matt Hellickson (R), Anthony Stolarz (L, injured), Justin Abdelkader (A, injured), Sasha Chmelevski (A).
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