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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Slovakia stuns U.S. in quarters

Associated Press

OTTAWA – Goalie Jaroslav Janus led Slovakia to a surprising quarterfinal victory over the United States in the World Junior Hockey Championship, making 44 saves in a 5-3 decision Friday at Scotiabank Place.

“It’s one of the biggest moments in Slovakia’s history — it’s unbelievable,” said Janus, who plays in the United States for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters.

Slovakia will face Sweden in the semifinals today. In the night’s second quarterfinal, Russia defeated the Czech Republic 5-1 to set up a semifinal against four-time defending champion Canada.

The United States outshot Slovakia 47-19.

“We just kept trying to throw pucks at him,” American forward Jim O’Brien said. “The dam just wouldn’t break. We kept piling it on.”

Adam Bezak, Tomas Tatar and Jozef Molnar had first-period goals for Slovakia, Richard Panik added one in the third, and Tatar had an empty-net goal with 2:14 left. The victory was Slovakia’s first over the United States in nine meetings in the event.

Ian Cole, Jonathan Blum and James van Riemsdyk scored for the United States, with van Riemsdyk scoring after goalie Thomas McCallum was pulled for an extra attacker.

“It was a game of bounces,” U.S. forward Jordan Schroeder said. “It was just an unbelievable performance by their goalie. Probably one of the best I’ve seen.”

The Americans will face the Czech Republic in the fifth-place game Sunday.

In the late game, Sergei Andronov, Nikita Filatov, Evgeni Grachev, Evgeni Dadonov and Pavel Chernov scored for Russia, and Vadim Zhelobnyuk made 28 saves. The Russians are 0-3 against Canada since a 3-2 victory in the 2003 title game.