Caufield led the USA to a 6-3 win over Latvia. The Americans clinched 2nd place in the group

USA beat Latvia 6:3 in their last group game and will meet their quarterfinal opponent in the evening matches. The United States will face one of the Czech Republic-Switzerland pairing in the next stage of the tournament.

First period

After less than a minute and a half, Caufield went on an attacking trip, passed the puck to Brady Tkachuk and he shot from the edge of the circle to beat Kristers Gudlevskis. The Ottawa forward scored his seventh goal of the championship.

After three minutes of the opening period, it could have been even happier on the U.S. bench. Gavin Brindley pushed the puck over the goal line. But after a lengthy video review, the referee disallowed the goal. The USA had to wait until the 14th minute to increase their lead, when Caufield found a free Zach Werenski in front of the net, who had no problem scoring.

Second period

When Matthew Boldy found Caufield wide open between the circles on the power play early in the second period, the U.S. had already taken a three-goal lead. Boldy scored his fourteenth point of the tournament and moved to the top of the World Championship scoring charts.

However, the big lead lasted only a minute. Eduards Tralmaks was on the counter-attack, and his accurate pass found Renars Krastenbergs. The Austrian Graz forward improved his shooting position and with a precise shot under the top bar reduced the score to 1:3.

Third period

Just 15 seconds into the third period, Werenski got a loose puck on the offensive blue line, found a wide open Boldy in front of the net and he increased the American lead to 4:1. At that point, there was no sign of a turnaround.

But then, within 16 seconds, the Kladno Tralmaks scored with Roberts Mamchics to cut the deficit to just one goal. Latvia must have been confident of a turnaround at this point, and there were certainly hopes of promotion echoing in the players’ heads.

However, it was Caufield who dashed any hopes of a Latvian turnaround at 48:46. The talented forward received a pass from Shane Pinto, spun out from behind the goal and finished under the top bar. Joel Farabee then corrected the final score of 6:3 late in the game.

Source: 2024 World Cup of Hockey