BUFFALO, N.Y. - Brock Nelson and Derek Forbort will return to Grand Forks with some hardware.
The University of North Dakota freshmen helped Team USA beat Sweden 4-2 on Wednesday to earn the bronze medal at the World Junior Championship.
While it may not have been the pre-tournament goal for the Americans, who were the defending champions, it still is a historic achievement for USA Hockey. It marked the first time ever that the U.S. has won a medal in back-to-back years.
Sweden was far from a pushover.
One of the pre-tournament favorites, the Swedes beat Canada in the preliminary round to earn a bye to the semifinals. There, the Swedes led Russia late, but fell victim to a last-minute goal and eventually lost in a shootout.
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In the bronze-medal game, the U.S. took an early lead on a goal by Boston College's Chris Kreider and never trailed. Denver's Drew Shore and Minnesota's Nick Bjugstad also scored for the Americans before Kreider iced the game with a two-on-one goal in the final minutes.
Team USA finished the tournament with a 5-1 mark, only losing the semifinal game to Canada.
Nelson finished the tournament with no goals, one assist and a minus-1 rating. Forbort didn't have any points and posted an even rating.
The players are expected to return to Grand Forks sometime today. When they arrive, UND coach Dave Hakstol said the team will assess their energy levels and health. If they are ready to go, they will be in the lineup at 7:37 p.m. Friday when the Sioux host Robert Morris.
