Canada West scored their first victory of the World Junior A Hockey Challenge at the most opportune time. Facing the Czech Republic in one of the quarter-finals on Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre, Canada West won 4-1.
The win moves the team through to the semifinals where they will face Sweden at the World Junior A Challlenge.
Curtis Loik scored twice, including the winner, while Luke Juha and Travis St. Denis scored once apiece. St. Denis' goal came on a short-handed penalty shot.
Sean Maguire made 20 saves with only Radim Matus beating him.
In the other quarter-final, Sean Kuraly scored a pair of insurance goals in the third period after Russia had the cut the U.S. lead to 4-3.
Kuraly's first goal came just 67 seconds after Alexi Kudreman had pulled the Russians to within a goal.
Mario Lucia, Alex Broadhurst, Austyn Young and Ethan Prow scored for the U.S while Russia responded with goals from Ilya Yamkin and Bogdan Yakimov.
The U.S, faces Canada East in one semifinal while Sweden plays Canada West in the other. The games are Nov, 11 at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.