Gawrys Nets The Game Winner, Team USA Wins Gold!

Jul 3, 2010

Kyle Kraemer scored two more goals to lead Team USA over the Czech Republic in the InLine World Championships.  Shawn Gawrys netted the game winner and J.P. Beilsten added an assist. 

Beilsten finished the tournament with 3G, 5A for 8 points.  Gawrys was tied for the team lead in points with 9G, 5A for 14 points and Kraemer led all goal scorers with 11 goals and was tied with Gawrys for the team lead with 14 points total.

According to the IIHF Website:

The U.S. won its first gold medal at the Inline Hockey World Championship since 2006 after earning a hard-fought 4-3 win against the Czech Republic.

The gold medal redeems the silver medal finish from last year and is the American\’s fifth gold in total at the Inline Worlds. For the Czechs, the silver a vast improvement from last year\’s sixth-place finish. The silver was the first medal for the nation since 2001 and only the third total medal.

Kyle Kraemer has been the go-to guy for the Americans, so it came as no surprise that he provided the offensive spark in the low-scoring first half. Kraemer opened the scoring quickly, striking just 3:45 into the game, but the high-energy Czechs had the answer less than a minute later. The back-and-forth would be the theme for the rest of the game as the teams matched each other in virtually evey way, although the U.S. had the edge in puck possession.

Kraemer netted his second goal of the game, and his 11th of the championship, midway through the second quarter and the 2-1 lead stood through halftime, but again the Czechs had the answer when they emerged for the second half when Patrik Sebek put in the 2-2 equalizer.

The U.S. took the lead yet again when Patrick Maroon flipped in a back-handed shot. The duel continued when Jiri Polansky tipped in a slap shot in the opening moments of the fourth quarter for to tie the game at three.

Shawn Gawrys put an end to the tug of war when he tapped in the tic-tac-toe pass from Patrick Maroon and Charles Yoder. The score gave the Americans their fourth lead of the game, but this one proved to be the most important as it held through the final buzzer.

The Americans now have 11 total medals at the Inline World Championship, which leads all nations.