U.S. U18 hockey team wins 4th straight gold medal

The U.S. Men's National U18 Team routed Sweden 7-0 on Sunday to win the International Ice Hockey Federation World U18 championship gold medal at Brno, Czech Republic. It marked the fourth year in a row that the Americans won the title.

Nicolas Kerdiles (Irvine, Calif.) had two goals and three assists, while goalie Collin Olson (Apple Valley, Minn.) stopped all 27 of Sweden's shots. Olson also won the Directorate Award as the tournament's No. 1 goaltender.

After losing an exhibition opener 3-2 to Sweden, the Americans posted six consecutive victories with an impressive margin of 27-4. They defeated Finland 4-0, Czech Republic 5-0, Denmark 4-0, Canada 5-3 and 2-1 before shutting out Sweden in the title match.

Kyle Osterberg (Lakeville, Minn.) scored the winning goal in the third period during  the 2-1 semifinal contest against Canada. Set Jones (Plano, Texas) had a pair of assists.