The Swedish hockey juniors came into the quarter-finals with good self-confidence after beating the reigning champion USA in the final group stage match 6–3.
It took only ten seconds into the quarter-final in St. Paul, Minnesota, before Sweden scored, 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 on the power play when 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 slammed home 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 to make it 5–2.
"To be honest, I shouldn't have gone on the ice, I was with the wrong guys. I take responsibility for that. They'll forgive me for the goal," says Frondell.
Latvia reduced the deficit but defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius then 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.
Finnish thriller
In the semi-final, which will be played on Sunday evening, the Junior Crowns will face Finland. This is clear after Finland knocked out two-time reigning champions the USA with a 4–3 victory in overtime.
The home nation USA dominated much of the quarter-final, but Finland turned things around and took the lead in the third period. After the USA equalized, Finnish defender Arttu Valila became the hero of the match when he scored the decisive goal just over two minutes into overtime.
Canada also advanced after crushing Slovakia 7–1. The semi-finals will feature the Czech Republic, who sent Switzerland home by winning last night's quarter-final 6–2.
