World Junior A Challenge: US Survives Scare Against Canada East; Wins 4-2

The US World Junior A Challenge team faced a stiff challenge on Wednesday night when they faced off against tournament hosts Canada East in front of a capacity crowd at the Mariners Centre in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

Though the Americans controlled play for much of the game, they found themselves in a tie game late in the third period after Canada East's Morgan Messenger tied the game at 2 at 9:10 of the third period. The Americans would rally, however, getting a goal less than a minute later from Shane Eiserman(New Hampshire) to retake the lead, and an insurance goal from Seamus Malone(Wisconsin) with less than a minute to play to seal the 4-2 victory.

Karson Kuhlman(Minnesota-Duluth) continued a strong tournament by getting the scoring started for the Americans for the second straight game. Kuhlman scored a power play at 14:34 of the first period, and added another goal at 1:20 of the second period.

Chris Birdsall(Boston College) got the win in net for the US, stopping 24 of 26 shots faced.

The Americans finish the tournament's preliminary round with a perfect 2-0-0 record, and earn an automatic pass to the semifinal round. They'll play their semifinal match-up on Friday, November 7th at either 3pm or 7pm.