In the semi-finals on Sunday evening or Monday night, Sweden will face one of the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia or Finland.
The Swedish hockey juniors came into the quarter-finals with confidence after beating the reigning champion USA in the final group stage match 6–3.
And it took only ten seconds in the quarterfinal in St. Paul, Minnesota, before Sweden scored the first goal, when Anton Frondell put the puck in the net.
We wanted to go out and set the tone for the match, says Frondell.
Two goals by Frondell
Latvia equalized 13 minutes later through Kristers Ansons during a power play after Sascha Boumedienne was sent off.
Sweden's captain Jack Berglund made it 2–1 three minutes later, his fourth goal in the World Championship.
In the second period, it took until the 14th minute before there were any goals. Right after a power play, defenseman Sascha Boumedienne thundered in a shot to make it 3–1. Just over a minute later, it was 4–1 through Felix Carell.
At the beginning of the third period, Anton Frondell scored his second goal of the match, 5–2.
"To be honest, I shouldn't have gone in; I was with the wrong guys. I take responsibility for that. They'll forgive me for the goal," says Frondell.
"Good start to the playoffs"
Latvia reduced the deficit, but then defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius scored to make it 6–2. Latvia got another consolation goal with two minutes left.
"We did this well; it was tight for a while. A good start to the playoffs," says Frondell.
The semi-finals will be played on Sunday evening and Monday night. Who Sweden will face in the semi-finals will not be decided until all quarter-finals have been played. The four semi-finalists will then be ranked according to how they played during the championship and the highest ranked team will face the lowest ranked team.
