The second day of the 2026 World Junior Championship was just as action-packed as the first day, as USA was back in action against Switzerland. The game started fast for both teams, but neither could score in the first, and it took barely a minute into the second period for USA to get on the board first.
Switzerland scored shortly after to tie the game, but USA answered to retake the lead. They protected the lead the rest of the game, and even at the end when Switzerland pulled their goaltender, USA held on to take the win 2-1. In this article, we’ll look at a couple of takeaways for USA and one for Switzerland, starting with USA’s star players.
USA Ziemer/Zellers Continue Dominance
Brodie Ziemer, the captain of USA got his team on the board first with a goal barely two minutes into the second period. His team had struggled off and on in the first period to find their game, but once he scored, they had some more life in them and started playing more of their style of game. However, a short time after he scored the goal, his teammate Cole Hutson took a puck to the neck and was stretchered off the ice. After the game it was revealed that Hutson was out of the hospital and back with the team with updates expected Sunday, Dec. 28.
Shortly after Hutson’s injury, Switzerland scored to tie the game, and it looked like things may take a turn. However, Will Zellers, who had a big impact in their first game, stepped up and scored again to give his team the lead. He may have been the last player added to this team, but he’s easily been one of the most impactful and has proven he was worthy of his spot.
“Yeah, I mean Cole (Hutson)…he’s our best player hands down. He takes over games, he’s such a big impact on our team so seeing him going down like that we knew we had to come out with a jump and not just play for him but play for Connelly too, that’s why I’m allowed to be here too so a lot of emotions for us but happy to come out a win after a scary situation like that,” said Zellers about the Hutson injury and continued about his goal, “A lot of emotions, kind of blacked out I mean the fans here, hearing that crowd pop, all the towels going around it was pretty special and really fun, really fun moment,”
USA Needs Consistentcy
Against Germany, it was easy to see USA was the better team for most of the game, although they had their slip-ups here and there, as nearly every team does. However, against Switzerland, USA really struggled to get their speed and skills going. They outskated Switzerland at times, only for it to happen back to them.
Their goaltender, Nicholas Kempf, was solid in net for them, and although he had some struggling moments of his own, it was mostly the team in front of him that needed to find consistency. He made 16 saves out of 17 shots, so not a lot of action, but enough to keep him busy throughout the game.
“Yeah, I liked our response tonight from yesterday’s game, obviously it wasn’t our best, and we kind of had a meeting this morning and talked about what we need to do if we wanted to have success, and I’m proud of the group for kind of coming out and answering the bell,” said Ziemer about their overall effort.
Switzerland Came to Play
When fans saw USA versus Switzerland, they probably didn’t give Switzerland much thought in terms of competition. However, Switzerland came to play and put USA on their heels quite a bit throughout the game. Their goaltender Christian Kirsch stood tall, and although he did get beaten twice, he stopped a lot of strong chances for the USA.
“Yeah, absolutely, we talked about how tough… this was going to be, and they’re a great team. They play the right way they’re well-coached and…to come out with a 2-1 win like that is great for this group,” Ziemer said about Switzerland and continued, “Yeah, like I said they play the right way, a lot of detail, they play hard..”
Related: Canada Gets Revenge Over Latvia and Wins 2-1 in Overtime
Switzerland is a strong team that gave USA a hard time and will likely give other teams a hard time as well. They’re speedy and good at shutting down other teams, so it’ll be interesting to see where they end up when the preliminary rounds are finished. Switzerland will take on Sweden on Sunday, Dec. 28, while USA will have Sunday off and be back in action on Monday, Dec. 29, to take on Slovakia.
