After playing in a wide-open game in the semifinals and losing in overtime, Team USA had an opportunity to win the Bronze medal. Team Czechia, which has been a thorn in everyone’s sides, had a setback in the semifinals as well, and winning bronze would go a long way for their national program.
Related: 2025 Under 17 World Hockey Challenge – Semifininals Recap
The United States got a pair of goals from Brayden Willis to win its third bronze medal at the U17 World Challenge with a 3-1 win over Czechia.
Bronze Medal Game
From the opening faceoff, Czechia began pushing the pace. Their intensity was paying early dividends, as they were able to win puck races and board battles; the Czechs were looking like the team on opening day that upset Canada White. Their control of the play was frustrating the USA and caused them to take a penalty, giving Czechia a great opportunity to strike first.
Team USA’s penalty killing (PK) unit was able to box out and keep the puck on the perimeter; this frustrated the Czechians, who tried to force the puck from the point through the slot. This backfired on them as the Americans took advantage of the aggressive power play (PP) to use Brayden Willis’ speed to open the scoring.
It was then the USA’s turn on the PP, and while they moved the puck at will, they were unable to score on a set play where they used the net-front player to tap in the cross-crease pass. By the end of the first period, the Czechs had outplayed the Americans, but the U.S. had the lead because of its depth. Willis commented on their depth and what was working for his team after the game.
“Offense, we stayed responsible in the D-zone and when we got into the O-zone, and we got some chances and started scoring. We have a lot of guys who can score and do a little of everything,”
-Brayden Willis
The second period started off the same as the first, with Czechia trying to control the pace of the game. However, it was the U.S. that took over as they established their cycle in the offensive zone. After another PP, the U.S. built momentum, and Willis was able to score again. Czechia fell into penalty issues in this middle frame and had a difficult time recovering any momentum, something that defenceman Lukas Kachlir noted after the game.
“We were here for first place, but after that semifinal loss we were just thinking we need to win a medal. But we had too many penalty kills, and they have so many chances from that,”
-Lukas Kachlir
The third period began with the US up by three goals and goaltender Eli Winters pitching a shutout. But like in the semifinals, the Czechs took over the game with a physical forecheck. They were able to get 15 shots on goal in that period and allowed only three.
They held territorial advantage the entire period, buzzing around the Americans’ zone almost at will, but Winters made save after save on his way to earning the player of the game for his efforts. Team USA played to defend the lead, and they collapsed into the middle, filling the slot and blocking several shots.
It took a concerted effort for the Czechs to win net front battles before Matyas Cancik was able to break the shutout with his first goal of the tournament. Unfortunately for them, it was simply not enough. The Americans ran out the clock for the win.
When asked after the game, Brayden Willis spoke about what his team took away from this experience and what they learned about their opponents this week.
“We’ll take it all in. You know it’s hard these tournaments. All these countries come together, they work hard and they can beat you,”
-Brayden Willis
In the fifth-place game, Finland beat Sweden 3-2 in overtime. Paavo Fugleberg tied the game on a six-on-three with less than 40 seconds left in regulation before Luukas Kokkonen netted the game-winning goal 41 seconds into overtime.
