2015 World Juniors USA vs. Germany: Hanifin Assists as USA Wins, 6-0
By Joe Micik
Boston College’s Noah Hanifin had an assist as Sunday’s Team USA vs. Germany contest went America’s way by a 6-0 score.
The United States’ winning goalie in their first game of the competition, Boston College’s Thatcher Demko, got the night off in favor of Brandon Halverson. As it turns out, Demko’s services were not needed as Team USA dominated the Germans from start to finish.
To put a finer point on the depth of Team USA’s dominance during the game, shots on goal were 53 to 14 in favor of the red, white, and blue. Halverson stopped all 14 that he faced to earn America’s first shutout win of the tournament. Demko allowed only one goal in the first game against Finland.
The only point scored by a Boston College Eagle on the evening was by Noah Hanifin, who got the assist on Dylan Larkin’s first goal late in the second period, putting the Americans ahead by a 4-0 margin.
Boston College Eagles
A former Boston College commit, Sonny Milano, scored a goal at the 2:48 mark of the second period to give America their third goal. Meanwhile, current commit Miles Wood missed on a prime opportunity to score late in the game, while current forward Alex Tuch, who played on the first line with Milano and Jack Eichel, loaded up several big shots on goal that were stopped by Germany’s goalie, Ilja Sharipov.
Sharipov did about as well as expected given the circumstances, but his offense had no chance of keeping up with Team USA. The Americans, including Tuch, controlled and moved the puck well, taking advantage of a highly favorable matchup.
We will not have to wait long to see Team USA in action again: they play Monday afternoon against Slovakia in Montreal, looking to run their record to 3-0.