Boston College at World Juniors: USA Wins Gold!

The United States won gold at the World Juniors tournament on Tuesday night, shutting Canada out 2-0 to secure the win. And boy, was it a night for the Eagles on the ice.

Drew Helleson got the primary assist on the first USA goal — his shot was tipped in by LA Kings prospect Alex Turcotte to give the USA a 1-0 lead. Although Matt Boldy didn’t get on the scoresheet this game, he was overall a presence for team USA and was on the ice in the dying minutes of the game to preserve the lead.

On the other side, while Alex Newhook didn’t get on the scoresheet for Canada, he was still generating chances and flying up and down the ice.

And the best for last — Spencer Knight.

Knight was, quite honestly, on a different plane of existence Tuesday night. He made all 34 saves he faced in the effort, and became the first American goaltender to have three shutouts in the tournament.

Several of his saves came in the second and third period when it seemed like the ice had tilted in Canada’s favor — making 10 and 15 saves in each while the USA struggled to get shots on goal in the other direction. He made key stops while being peppered with shots in the crease, and on a Canada breakaway that could have very easily changed the momentum of the game.

When asked about his performance after the game, Knight said, “no one person can win a game on their own, and our whole team battled so hard [...] from start to finish, and every time we went into the locker room, we had so much new energy going and I was so proud of the guys. We stuck to our game plan, played hard, played selfless, and that’s the key.” He went on to emphasize that he wasn’t thinking about his own performance getting better through the tournament after a rough first game — after all, “it’s a team sport.”

BC is so lucky to have all four players representing them on a national stage, and we cannot wait until they’re back on the Heights!

Game Highlights: