For defenceman Jett Woo, a game-winning goal with a Canadian jersey on is the ultimate.
The 16-year-old blueliner scored with 1:29 left in regulation time lifted Team Canada White to a 3-2 victory over Team Canada Red to earn one of four spots in semifinal action at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
“It was unbelievable,” Woo said. “It’s something you dream of as a kid.”
A backhand from the right faceoff circle got through traffic and beat goaltender Carl Stankowski to give Canada White the victory.
“I didn’t think I had much time, I saw an opening in the forwards legs and I just tried to get it through. I didn’t even look at the net,” Woo said. “I’ve never screamed so loud in my life.”
“We had traffic around the net, a guy put the puck on net and it went in,” Team Canada White Coach Brent Kisio said. “That’s the way those games usually end.”
Kisio was pleased with his team in the win and noted its response after surrendering a two-goal lead.
“Anytime you get the lead like that, you know (the opposition) is going to push and they did,” Kisio said. “I was really proud of the way our guys responded.”
“It’s easy to pack it in and our guys came out and played hard,” Kisio also said.
Akil Thomas and Elijah Brown also scored for Team Canada White.
Riley Damiani and Shawn Element scored for Team Canada Red.
“It was a tight game,” said Team Canada Red Coach Rocky Thompson. “We were able to battle back, which says a lot about the guys in our locker room.”
In other quarterfinal action on Thursday, goaltender Jacob Ingham made 34 saves as Team Canada Black beat Team Finland 3-1. Luka Burzan, Dawson Baker and Aidan Dudas completed the scoring for Team Canada Black. Niklas Nordgren had the lone goal for Finland.
Jacob Olofsson’s goal at 2:33 of the third period held up as the game winner as Team Sweden held on for a 4-3 win over Team USA. The American’s scored three times in the final 15 minutes of the contest to make the game close. Carl Jakobsson, David Gustafsson and Jonatan Berggren also scored for Sweden. Erik Middendorf, Bode Wilde and Joel Farabee scored for Team USA.
Thursday’s other quarterfinal saw Team Russia beat Team Czech Republic 3-1. Andrey Svechnikov had two goals and an assist for Team Russia while Aleksandr Khovanov also scored. Karel Plasek had the lone goal for the Czech Republic.
Friday’s schedule will see Team Canada White face Team Sweden in the early semifinal at 3:30 p.m. at the Essar Centre while Team Russia will play Team Canada Black in the other semi at 7:30.
Friday also sees a pair of placement games as Team Canada Red faces Team USA at noon in the fifth-place game at the Essar Centre while Finland and the Czech Republic meet at 6 p.m. at the John Rhodes to determine seventh.