Trevor Connelly scored four goals to lead the U.S. Junior Select Team past Sweden 8-5 Sunday, claiming third place in the 2023 World Jr. A Challenge.

"I'm proud of our group for finding a way to finish off the tournament on a strong note," said Black Hawks Head Coach Matt Smaby, also head coach of the U.S. Junior Select Team. "It wasn't the final result we wanted, but I feel really lucky to have been around such a great group of players. It's an honor to represent your country and I'm proud of our guys for doing a great job of that."
 
Zam Plante got the U.S. on the board 2:04 into the game after he fired a shot from the corner that deflected off the Swedish goaltender into the net.

Sweden tied the score, 1-1, on the power play at 3:28 in the first period.

Less than a minute later, Connelly deked the Swedish goaltender and capitalized, with assists from Brandon Svoboda and Andrew Strathmann to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead.

Connelly expanded on the U.S. lead with a power-play goal at 7:09 in the first frame, assisted by Strathmann and Mac Swanson.

Sweden responded with a power-play goal at the 13:18 mark and found the back of the net again less than a minute later to level the score at three apiece.

Team USA regained the lead after Connelly netted a feed from Adam Kleber.

James Reeder added to the U.S. tally late in the first period when he deflected a shot from Swanson, assisted by Joe Connor, to give Team USA a 5-3 lead heading into the middle third.

Chris Pelosi and Connelly combined for a pair of power-play goals in the second period and Sweden added to its tally to bring the U.S. lead to 7-4.

Connor scored 1:45 into the third frame, and Sweden added a goal, capping off an 8-5 victory for the U.S. to earn a third-place finish in the 2023 World Jr. A Challenge.

Goaltender Hampton Slukynsky backstopped the win with 21 saves.

Black Hawks forwards Gavin Lindberg and Griffin Erdman played in all six games during the competition.  Lindberg recorded a pair of assists.