Western Michigan freshman defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and Team USA settled for the silver medal in the under-20 World Junior Championships on Saturday.
Team USA went 5-1-1 overall in the tournament, eventually falling to Finland 3-2 in the thrilling gold medal matchup.
This was Team USA's 12th medal, second silver, in the history of the tournament With all the talent and NHL draft picks in the Team USA lineup, Samuelsson was needed to play a shutdown defensive role and he succeeded in doing so. The 6-foot-4-inch defenseman was able to add a much needed physical presence to Team USA.