USA wins over the Young Lions in the thriller of the World Cup final – Finland’s number one star winked at the doubters: “Special” | Sport

The U20 Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship will be held in Ottawa, Canada from December 26, 2024 to January 5, 2025.

Finland experienced a bitter disappointment in the final of the under-20 men’s ice hockey World Cup. The Young Lions led the final match on two occasions, but the result was a 3–4 overtime loss to the United States.

He decided the match Teddy Stig in a time of 68.04 from the run-through. The puck was blocked 36/40 times Petteri Rimpinen jump in.

The medal was the first for the Young Lions since 2022, when Finland won silver in the World Cup final against Canada.

The world championship was the second in a row for the United States in this age group. Last year, it celebrated gold in Gothenburg, Sweden by knocking off the competition host, Sweden.

Finland lost a two-goal lead

Finland was on top of the game in the opening set and the beginning of the second set.

Nuoret Leijonat received an award for their moves in 7:13, when Jesse Kiiskinen took Finland into the lead with a power play goal.

After the half of the set, the USA equalized Ryan Leonard’s with a hit, but Finland responded quickly Tuomas Uronen with a counterattack goal.

Finland started the second set strong again and took a 3–1 lead Emil Pieniniemen with a shot.

The USA took control of the game after a lucky 2-3 reduction when Brandon Svobodan the shot hit the goal Daniel Nieminen through in time 37.38. The USA’s equalizer came in the last minute of the second period by Cole Hutson from the racket.

– In the USA’s second goal, we were unlucky when there was a bad bounce and the puck went into the goal, Pieniniemi lamented to Urheilu.

The head coach Lauri Mikkolan according to Finland did not become passive, although it may have seemed so in the eyes of some.

– There was no passivation. In a game between two good teams, it is difficult to control from start to finish, Mikkola told Urheilu.

The USA dominated the third period, but the tournament’s best goalkeeper Rimpinen kept Finland up.

The USA took the shots in the match by 40-24.

– From there, the USA came through and won – nothing can be done. It was great to play when the Canadian public cheered us on, Tuomas Uronen, who plays at club level in the Canadian OHL, told Urheilu.

Kudos to the young Lions

For Finland’s head coach Lauri Mikkola, the World Cup was the second time at the helm of the Young Lions. The Finnish team received praise from the coach after the final match, although the icing on the cake was not achieved.

– Absolutely amazing, amazing team. Things were learned quickly. The guys’ eyes burned every day when we worked together, whether it was a practice or a meeting or whatever. The soul was with me the whole time, Mikkola thanked.

“I couldn’t really imagine any more”

The goalkeeper who supported the Finnish team throughout the tournament Petteri Rimpinen was naturally upset after the narrow final loss, but quickly saw the positives of the tournament as well.

– I’m proud of the team, but of course it’s sad. This is special, because nobody believed in us but ourselves. We made great memories, Rimpinen told Urheilu.

– It was amazing to play in the WC final, it was a great experience. We played and fought well and certainly made the nation proud.

Almost 17,000 pairs of eyes watched the final in Ottawa. The drug of the final match made an impression on the Finnish goalkeeper.

– There were big stakes and the audience was very involved. It was great to make a couple of saves in it.

Rimpinen felt that he couldn’t have imagined anything more from the tournament trip.

– I didn’t really know what it would be like here, because these were my first under-20 competitions. There was quite a stir and there was a lot of audience. If someone had said a year ago that the games would go like this, I wouldn’t have believed it. This was a great experience, Rimpinen concluded.

After the game, Rimpinen received special thanks from Jesse Kiiskinen, who scored the opening goal.

– Pete kept us up and gave us big chances to win, but we didn’t manage to use our own chances. This happened today, a clearly disappointed Kiiskinen summed up.

Emil Pieniniemi, who was responsible for Finland’s third goal, was proud of the Young Lions like Rimpinen.

– Really sad. I’m really proud of the team – we came a long way. The Yankees had a good team, but so did we. It was a tight game.