Canada West Wins World Tourney, USA Nets Bronze

(Above) Last year DU Freshman Kyle Ostrow won a gold medal at the World Junior A Championship. This year it was Joe Colborne's turn.

TRAIL, BC – Cominco Arena in Trail, BC was literally filled to the rafters for the 2007 World Junior A Challenge final, with a sold out crowd of 3,040. All 2,100 seats were occupied and people were standing three deep in the standing room area above the bowl seating. Canada West gave the raucous fans something to cheer about, with an impressive 4-1 win to capture the World Junior A Challenge for a second consecutive year. DU Recruit Joe Colborne scored a goal in the second period and his linemate Mike Connolly (UMD recruit) was named Tourney MVP.

Canada West led 2-1 after one period. After Corey Trivino opened the scoring for Team East, Zac Dalpe answered with two straight goals for Team West.

Joe Colborne made it 3-1 just as fans were just getting back to their seats after the intermission, depositing a perfect Mike Connolly pass behind Gillis at the 0:32 mark. Dalpe completed the hat trick in the third period, on a power play, giving Canada West the 4-1 win.

USA Rallies For Bronze

(left) John Lee (#5) celebrates a USA goal in the semi-final against Canada West on Saturday night

Down by two goals on three separate occasions, and trailing for most of the game, Team USA rallied time after time, finding a way to escape with a 9-6 win over Russia to capture the World Junior A Challenge bronze medal. Nick Dineen (CC Recruit) had two goals for the Americans, including the game-winner at 17:00 of the third period, and one assist. DU recruit John Lee chipped in with an assist for his first point in the Tournament.

No comments: