USA starts with victory against Thailand – 03.12.2016

USA reached a hard victory against proud debutantes from Thailand. The Americans won their opening match 5-4 (2-0, 2-3, 1-1).

The Asian team started well with some great opportunities to open the score. Team USA were lucky to keep a 0-0 result till 14:29 when Robin Brown scored the first one in the match. After that USA controlled the game and Steffan Zimmermann scored the second goal from a rebound. Thailand goalkeeper showed great performance in the first period with 9 saves.

Thailand answered in the second period. After the opponents´ powerplay, Pawat Thaidit scored a historic goal for his country. The Asian team continued strong and took the lead after 36 minutes was played. USA were able to answer instantly and that was possible after Zimmermann´s second goal in the game. The Americans finished the period with an advantage after Ryan Winkler´s shot.

Thailand started the third period with great offensive play. This helped them to score an equalizing goal at 44:30. Tight game continued till the final whistle and both teams tried their luck at the attacking zone. Thailand had better chances to make their fans proud and happy. Team USA finished strong with the game´s winning goal that was scored 78 seconds before the end. Thailand ended the game with an empty net but that was not enough to make another comeback in this match. Final score was 5-4 to Team USA.