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29th June 2025 - Tomáš Rotter, photo: Vojtěch Zajíc

Slovaks celebrate bronze in U23 category as well, defeating USA 6-5 in OT

We only had to wait two minutes for the opening goal in the bronze-medal match, as the Slovaks took advantage of some hesitation in the Americans' passing game and took a quick 1-0 lead. Not to be left behind, however, the Americans tied it two minutes later, but Slovakia regained the lead three minutes before the end of the first period, making it 2-1. Slovakia dominated early in the second period and went up by two, but their lack of discipline gave the USA some energy. First, the Americans got within striking distance by scoring on a 5-on-4 power play and then scored the tying goal on a two-man advantage. The Americans continued to rally early in the third period and jumped into a 5-3 lead. But the team led by Milan Rampáček did not give up, reduced the deficit, and then tied the score at 5-5 with seven seconds left! Even greater joy for the Slovaks was unleashed in overtime by Šimon Lopušan, who scored the bronze-medal-winning goal for his team.

ČPP Aréna - hala 1

6-5 (OT)
(2:1, 1:2, 2:2 - 1:0)

Slovakia U23 - USA U23

Penalties
5:3
PPG
0:2
SHG
0:0
Shots on goal
15:18

Goals and assists

3. Wachal (Stümpel), 13. Siakeľ (Balát, Marek), 21. Zummer (Šatka), 40. Benko (Siakeľ), 45. Siakeľ (Lopušan), 46. Lopušan (Siakeľ, Benko) – 7. McCormick (Marchese, Malloy), 25. Migliozzi (Bruno), 28. Migliozzi (Bruno), 35. Callahan, 37. Malloy (Rhoades, Phillips).

Referees

Michal Záhora, Vilém Jonák

Official game sheet

Slovakia U23

Mališ (34. Borovský) – Stümpel, Belák, Chmelko, Šechný, Šulík, Dubeň, Lopušan, Mikula – Marek, Wachal, Putala, Korbíni, Jankůj, Benko, Siakeľ, Balát, Zummer, Šatka, Amrich, Gugh, Badalov, Vojčík.

USA U23

Mangini – Albert, Malloy, Melillo, Wright, Migale, Rose, Steinberg – Henry, Drew, Migliozzi, Callahan, McCormick, Wilbur, Rudolph, Bruno, Rennebeck, Fetzer, Marchese, Phillips, Rhoades, Gallen.

Coaches´ Quotes

Milan Rampáček (SVK): “Our team had tremendous strength — the group clicked from day one, and thanks to that, everything worked for us. In sports, you can never give up, and these boys kept believing all the way through. When we equalized at 5–5, I knew we would turn it in our favor. The players showed incredible determination, and they deserve a big thank you for that.”

Jonny Ruiz (USA): “I’d say discipline was the deciding factor. In the end, we needed to be more organized in front of our net, but we didn’t manage that. I don’t want to make excuses about the referees’ decisions — if we had converted our chances, we could have won. But that’s hockey. It just didn’t work out for us this year. Still, I want to thank my boys — they did everything right and, most importantly, they fought hard.”

Photogallery

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