The third game of opening day at the 2026 World Junior Championship took place on Friday evening, Dec. 26, and was between the United States and Germany. USA looked to defend their gold for a third straight year, and Germany tried to derail that plan. Caleb Heil was in the net for the USA, while Lennart Neisse was in the net for Germany.
Related: Guide to the 2026 World Junior Championship
The game started out in favor of the USA, and Germany tried to fight back, but USA stormed forward with three straight goals in the second that gave them a commanding lead. That lead held and USA went on to defeat Germany 6-3.
Game Recap
USA opened the scoring with a goal just over five minutes into the first from Max Plante. Teddy Stiga and Adam Kleber assisted him to make it 1-0. Barely five minutes later USA scored again with a goal from Chase Reid to make it 2-0. Will Zellers and Brendan McMorrow assisted him. Another five minutes passed and USA’s Will Horcoff scored to make it 3-0. Brodie Ziemer and James Hagens assisted him.
Germany scored in the final minutes of the first period to get themselves on the board with a goal from Timo Kose. Carlos Handel and Tobias Schwartz assisted him to make it 3-1. That was the final goal of the first period and USA took the 3-1 lead into the second.
Germany opened the scoring in the second with a goal from Simon Siedl. Dustin Willhoft assisted him to get his team back within a goal. However USA answered just under five minutes later with a goal from Will Zellers to extend the lead back to two goals. Cole Hutson and Anthony Spellacy assisted him.
Germany responded less than a minute later with a goal from Lenny Boos. Willhoft and Moritz Kretzschmar assisted him to make it 4-3. USA responded a few minutes later as Zellers scored his second of the night. Spellacy assisted him to make it 5-3. They added another a few minutes later on a goal by Cole Eiserman that made it 6-3. Hutson assisted him. That was the final goal of the second period and USA took the lead into the third.
USA’s lead held throughout the third period, and they took the win 6-3. USA will be back in action on Saturday evening, Dec. 27 when they face Switzerland. Germany will also be back in action on Saturday as they take on Slovakia.
