Prague - The USA clinched a spot in the ice hockey world championship semi-finals by beating Switzerland 3-1 in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava on Thursday.
Switzerland took the lead on 14 minutes when Nashville defenseman Roman Josi grabbed the puck in the Swiss defending zone and cut through the stunned US defence to beat Connor Hellebuyck in the US goal.
But the US team came back within a minute midway through the game as San Jose forward Ben Smith fired in a pass from Jimmy Vesey and Minnesota forward Charlie Coyle tipped in a slap shot by Seth Jones.
Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner made it 3-1 on 51 minutes, beating Colorado goalie Reto Berra in the Swiss goal with a deflected wrist shot from the blue line.
In the other quarter-finals on Thursday, Canada face Belarus, defending champions Russia take on Sweden and the Czech Republic will play against Finland.
The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday and the final for Sunday.
AFP
