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Dec. 30—DAVOS, Switzerland — When fans arrived at the arena Tuesday, they could no longer purchase U.S. Collegiate Selects merchandise.
It was all sold out.
The NCAA all-star team has captivated European hockey fans this week and gave them another show on Tuesday.
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The Selects, who were projected to be the worst team at the Spengler Cup by gambling sites, beat HC Sparta Praha 5-3 in the tournament semifinals to reach the championship match.
They'll play for the title at 5:10 a.m. Central on Wednesday. The game will be carried for free on YouTube.
Penn State forward Aiden Fink, a Hobey Baker Award finalist last season, scored three goals and tallied four points for the Selects against Sparta Praha, a professional team that won Czechia's regular-season title a year ago.
Penn State forward Charlie Cerrato and Denver defenseman Eric Pohlkamp also scored for the Selects.
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Wisconsin forward Quinn Finley and Michigan forward T.J. Hughes each had two assists.
North Dakota junior defenseman Jake Livanavage tallied an assist and led the Selects in ice time at 20:35. His North Dakota classmate, Abram Wiebe, logged big minutes on the second defensive pairing.
"It was a great game," Fink said in a television interview after the semifinal win. "All of these games have been fun games, intense games. We have the finals tomorrow now. It's going to be a fun one."
Locals expected the Selects to lose every game to their professional foes, but they have continued to stun European audiences.
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After Tuesday's semifinal win, a local report, translated from German, said: "When the U.S. college selection arrived in Davos on December 23, it was described as a mystery package. Nobody could really assess the qualities and relative strength of the student team. Eager students versus battle-hardened professionals was the prevailing view. By now, however, it is clear: the college selection plays excellent, extremely fast ice hockey. The young North Americans are by no means pure amateurs who briefly step onto the ice in the evening after a long day of studying."
The Selects have started different goalies in every game — Augustana's Josh Kotai in a 3-2 loss to Team Canada on Friday, Minnesota Duluth's Adam Gajan in a win over host HC Davos on Saturday and Minnesota State's Alex Tracy in the semifinals.
Tracy turned aside 32 shots and helped the Selects weather a big push by Sparta Praha in the second period.
The Selects pushed back in the final 30 minutes, though, against a Czech team that had played one more game. The Selects received a bye to the semifinals by winning their group.
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Cerrato and Finley scored seven minutes apart in the back half of the second period to make it 4-2. Fink buried a goal just 62 seconds into the third period to make it a three-goal game.
"Today, we were a little tired at the end," Sparta Praha forward Michael Špaček said. "When it was 2-2, we were the better team. They scored the third one, and the fourth one, and it was hard for us to come back. Maybe the energy wasn't there. They were a better team at the end."
This report was done remotely.
English (US) ·