All-Canadian clash for gold at U17 World Challenge

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One thing is certain about the U17 World Challenge gold-medal game: It will end with the playing of O Canada.

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The six-team tournament comes down to Canada Red against Canada White in Saturday’s final at Progressive Auto Sales Arena at 7:30 p.m.

“They’ve got a good team, but, at this point, it’s hockey and it’s competitive,” Canada Red forward Chad Lygitsakos said in an interview. “We know a couple guys on their team, they know us, but when we’re on the ice, there’s no friends.

“We’re just going to give it our all knowing that they’re a great hockey team, but I think we’re going to have an edge on them.”

Lygitsakos scored twice Friday in a 7-3 semifinal win over the United States. Sarnia Sting centre Alessandro Di Iorio had the first goal for Canada Red, which jumped to a 4-0 lead.

Mathis Preston’s hat trick led Canada White past Sweden 6-4 in the early semifinal.

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Both finalists promise to treat their Maple Leaf-wearing foe like any other opponent.

“It’s us versus them out there,” said Canada White forward Beckham Edwards of the Sting. “It’s us versus every team out there. We want to do our best that we can to win this tournament.”

This is the first time two Canadian teams have met in the final since Hockey Canada began sending national teams to the tournament in November 2014.

The last time Canadian teams faced off for gold was in 2009 when Ontario defeated Pacific.

Canada Red earned a bye to the semifinals after winning its group with a 2-0 record, so Friday’s game was the team’s first in four days.

“This was our best game, definitely,” Lygitsakos said. “We’ve been just grinding so much. … We were just so pumped to play this game playing U.S.A. Obviously that rivalry’s huge and I’m so happy we got that win, but we obviously can get to another level.

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“I think we’re going to have to get to another level to make sure we come up with a win tomorrow because they’re a great team.”

Canada Red led 1-0 after one period on Di Iorio’s goal, then built its 4-0 lead when Lygitsakos scored two goals and Joe Iginla had one in a span of 4:12 early in the second period.

Cruz Pavao, Parker Vaughan and Brett Olson also scored for Canada Red. Carter Esler made 19 saves.

One night after rallying from three goals down to beat Czechia in overtime in a quarter-final, the Americans tried to come back again. They trailed Canada Red 5-3 after two periods.

“We just try to play the game and make sure we’re doing the right things,” Lygitsakos said. “We’re not worried about what’s in the past. I think our team’s been very good of staying in the present and I think we did that great today. We didn’t let the comeback bother us today.”

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Lukas Zajic, Logan Stuart and Mikey Berchild scored for the U.S.

In the early semifinal, Tynan Lawrence, Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin scored and Gavin Betts made 20 saves for Canada White. Marcus Nordmark and Elton Hermansson scored two apiece for Sweden.

“It took us a little longer to get things going than I expected, but we really found our groove after about 10 minutes,” Canada White head coach Mathieu Turcotte said in a statement. “The guys played an amazing game. Our structure was good, we managed the puck better and our special teams play was solid. We were able to get two big power-play goals, we were strong on the (penalty kill), and I am really happy with the win.”

Preston has five playoff goals. He scored twice in a 4-2 quarter-final win against Finland.

“(Preston) has been great in this tournament, and obviously he has scored some important goals for us,” Turcotte said. “I felt in the first two games he was on the cusp of scoring and had some great chances, but he really delivered in the quarter-final when we needed him to, and he did that again tonight.”

The United States and Sweden will play for bronze at 3:30 p.m. after Finland meets Czechia for fifth place at noon.

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