Press Release
WINNIPEG, Man. – The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge gold medal is going back to Ontario.
Sean Monahan scored twice, including the game winner with 12:47 to go, as Ontario regained its U17 gold medal with a 5-3 win over the United States on Tuesday night in front of an announced attendance of 12,060 at the MTS Centre, the largest crowd ever to see a game at the tournament.
The old record was 8,889, set at the gold medal game of the 2008 event in London, Ont.
Ontario won gold for the third time in four years, and avenged its 2-1 gold medal game loss to the U.S. last year in Timmins, Ont.
After scoring just twice in Monday’s night’s semifinal victory over Quebec, Ontario jumped on the Americans for three goals in the first 13 minutes, chasing U.S. goaltender Collin Olson after Brendan Gaunce made it 3-1.
But the U.S., who had trailed for a grand total of just 5:16 in its first five games, clawed back, with goals from Miles Koules and Patrick Sieloff bringing the defending champions back to even 67 seconds into the third period.
That set the stage for Monahan, who scored both goals in the semifinal, including the overtime winner.
Monahan took a pass from Gianluca Curcuruto, out waited an American defenceman and rifled a shot over the shoulder of Jared Rutledge so hard it took the top off the water bottle on top of the net, reigniting the pro-Canadian crowd.
But while it was Monahan who led the offence, it was Mathew Campagna who stole the show.
After Garrett Wilson was injured when he was pulled down on a breakaway, Campagna stepped up and took the penalty shot, with more than 12,000 standing and cheering before he even touched the puck.
Unfazed by the noise, Campagna swung wide to the right, cut to the net and, after getting Rutledge moving the wrong way, tucked the puck around the American goaltender with one hand – reminiscent of Peter Forsberg’s famous Stamp goal in the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.
That goal was more than enough for Ontario, which ran out the remaining four minutes to clinch its eighth gold medal at the tournament.
(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)
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