Courtesy of USA Hockey

The U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team (2–0) defeated neighbor Canada (1–1) by a score of 4–2 on Sunday afternoon in Beijing. The game was a massive success for a young American team that was designed with games like this in mind.

After a disappointing 2018 Olympics, the U.S. retooled its approach for selecting players. The team switched from choosing veteran players in 2018 to selecting younger players with blazing speed in 2022. Two former Bulldogs, Brian O’Neill ’12 and Kenny Agostino ’14, played a massive role in helping the U.S. to the win on Sunday afternoon. 

On a team that features 15 current NCAA players, older players O’Neill and Agostino have found themselves in the spotlight on the top line with captain Andy Miele playing as their center.

The top line’s leadership was called upon early in the rivalry game as Canada grabbed the lead just 84 seconds into the game. However, this would be the only lead Canada would have all night, and it would only last 70 seconds.

Following the Canadian goal, the American top line took charge. Miele took a touch pass from O’Neill that sprung him and Agostino in on a two-on-one. With Agostino drawing the defender to him, Miele buried a backhand into the top left corner of the net behind Canadian goaltender Eddie Pasquale and tied the game at one. 

“I thought that was some good adversity for us,” O’Neill said to USA Today.

The game was also one of vast differences between goaltenders. American goalie Strauss Mann, a former University of Michigan standout, stood tall in net all day for the U.S., only allowing two goals on 37 shots.

On the other end, the Canadian netminder, Pasquale, allowed four goals on 27 shots, including some which even he admitted were weak goals.

“I fought the puck pretty much all night,” Pasquale said to ESPN. “I gave up two weak ones. If I make those two saves, we’re 2-2 going into overtime.”

For Agostino, the game will be one to remember for more than just beating Canada. Agostino scored his first Olympic goal on a blast from the high slot midway through the third period to put the U.S. up 4–2 and effectively ice the Canadians out.

Following the game, Agostino was quick to shy from personal praise, opting to instead direct the attention towards the youngsters on the team.

“The kids can play, I think it’s safe to say,” Agostino said to ESPN, “It’s clear we’ve got a lot of speed and a lot of talent, but I think this was a man’s game tonight: Canada-U.S.A., there’s no real explanation needed. I think all of them stepped up and played like men out there.”

The last game of the preliminary round for the U.S. will see them face off against Germany. During team selection for the Olympics, both the U.S. and Canada had to contend with the NHL’s late decision to not allow players to participate in the Olympics.

For both Canada and the U.S., many of their best players play in the NHL, which meant the team had to be selected from other leagues and the NCAA. However, for Germany, many of its top players already play in leagues outside of the NHL, so their selections were much less affected.

The U.S. will finish the preliminary round against Germany at 8:10 a.m. ET (9:10 p.m. CST in Beijing) on Sunday.