Congratulations are once again inorder for Team USA...
United States grabs gold against Finland
The United States got its first gold medal at the IIHF World InLine Hockey Championship since 1999 in a decisive 9-5 victory over defending champion, Finland.
It was a battle between the two powers of InLine hockey. Both teams had three gold medals to their credit going into the game, but ultimately, Finland could not overcome the massive 5-0 advantage that the United States held at the end of the first quarter.
The United States scored 1:56 into the game when Charles Yodel struck. Chris Nelson made it a 2-0 lead with a forceful slapshot that trickled past the glove of Finnish goaltender Ari Luostarinen, and before eight minutes had passed the United States had a 3-0 lead courtesy of Sam Ftorek.
Finland called a timeout after the goal but it did little to help as the United States got two goals in the last minute of the quarter, including the second Ftorek tally, to pull out to the 5-0 lead.
Finland started to comeback in the second quarter, powered by two goals from Mikko Liukkonen, who got a sprawling goal at the 2:49 mark, and a rebound less than two minutes later. The effort brought the Finns to within three.
Ernie Harleib put some more distance between the United States and Finland with his goal 2:37 into the second half, but Finland responded just 16 seconds later when Liukkonen netted his third goal of the game. Finland found itself within two goals midway through the third quarter when Sami Jarvenpaa tipped the puck in.
Nelson gave the U.S. some breathing space again, restoring the three-goal lead, with his rebound goal at 9:30 of the third, but the lead lasted for only 35 seconds when Finland scored yet another tip-in. A U.S. goal by Walter Sweatt in the last 40 seconds of the third sent the game into the final quarter with an 8-5 USA advantage.
Yoder sealed the win just under two minutes into the fourth quarter, giving the U.S. an insurmountable 9-5 lead. The goal deflated the Finns, who failed to score the rest of the game.
For the United States, the win marks its seventh medal in eight world championships and its fourth overall gold. Finland, which has also medalled seven times, now has three gold, three bronze and two silver medals to its credit.
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