Latvian goalie Patriks Plumins keeps a close eye on the puck as a Finnish opponent looks on during the teams' group stage game at the 2026 IIHF Men's U18 World Championship in Trencin, Slovakia.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / CHRIS TANOUYE
Finland improved to 2-and-0 at the start of its 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship campaign.
The tournament’s top scorer Luca Santala was on target again in a 2-0 victory over Latvia. Defender Roni Kuuasjarvi netted the opening goal and netminder Pyry Lammi made 15 saves for a shut-out on his first start of this year’s competition.
“It was an OK game from us,” said Santala. “We could be a little better on the basic things but we had a good win today.”
Latvia battled hard and proved difficult to score on. However, the team has problems at the other end and failed to score for the second game in a row.
“I’m very proud of our team,” said Latvian forward Olivers Murnieks. “We stuck together and played very good structurally. Our goalie did an amazing job which we need if we want to win games.
“But we need to score goals now. Two games with zero goals, that’s one thing we need to improve.”
Yesterday, Latvia was caught cold at the start of its opening loss to Canada. In game two it tried to make the early running against the favoured Finns.
In the first minute, captain Davids Tarvins forced a big save out of Lammi, making his first start in the Finnish net. And the Assat prospect, who was named goalie of the year in Finland’s U20 league, was tested again when Daniels Reidzans got clear and fired in a testing shot that Lammi seemingly knew little about as he blocked the puck and Atte Vuori scrambled it to safety.
While Latvia looked dangerous on the counter, Finland enjoyed the bulk of the attacking possession. There were warnings, with one effort clipping the outside of the post and several anxious moments around the Latvian net. And in the 14th minute Kuukasjarvi stepped onto an Eelis Uronen pass and launched an unstoppable shot past Patriks Plumins to open the scoring.
Plumins, back for his second U18s, replaced Ilja Nikitins as starting goalie and had a busy first period as Finland looked to build on the lead. Samu Alalauri dinged the piping again close to the intermission as the pressure intensified, but it remained a one-goal game at the end of the first.
Latvia showed in its opening game that it is not an easy opponent to break down: a 0-6 loss was distorted by some late Canadian goals.
Against Finland, too, there was solid defence. Even after running into penalty trouble in the second period, the Latvians remained resilient. Olegs Sorokins’ youngsters killed a five-on-three power play, then almost grabbed a shorthanded goal when Finland next had a man advantage. Murnieks forced a turnover as Juho Piiparinen tried to bring play out of his zone, setting up Reidmans on the doorstep. Lammi just got enough of it to preserve his team’s lead.
“They had some moments and we had our moments too,” said Piiparinen. “They play with a big heart, they blocked many, many shots. But I think we handled it pretty well and our goalie played a solid game also to keep their score to zero.”
That scare finally sparked another Finnish goal – and it was Santala who scored it. He added to his opening game hat-trick with a mighty one-timer from the left-hand dot to give the young Leijonat some breathing space midway through the second period.
Latvia’s resilience was tested again at the start of the third period. Martins Klaucans and Tomass Erdmanis-Hermanis went to the box together on 42:03, but the three remaining Latvian skaters kept Finland at bay. After they returned to the game, a tussle before a neutral zone face-off brought another Finnish power play; while Latvian fans lost their composure with the officials, the team stayed focused and kill another penalty.
Defensive structure was keeping Latvia alive in the contest, but the clock was ticking down and goals were not forthcoming. Finland was able to enjoy the lion’s share of possession; by the midpoint of the third period, Latvia had just three shots at Lammi as it struggled to get through centre ice.
A penalty for Olli Wahlroos offered a route back for the Latvians with eight to play. Coach Sorokins called a time-out, only to see a Finnish counter draw a foul that evened up the numbers on the ice. Instead of reducing the deficit, Latvia almost fell further behind when Alalauri clipped the crossbar. There was time for a late surge when a penalty enabled Plumins to go to the bench in the last couple of minutes, but Finland closed out a 2-0 victory.
Finland faces Slovakia tomorrow – “the biggest game of the tournament so far,” according to Piiparinen – in a battle of two teams with 100% records. Latvia faces a crunch clash against winless Norway with both teams anxious to secure a quarterfinal spot and avoid the relegation playoff.
The tournament’s top scorer Luca Santala was on target again in a 2-0 victory over Latvia. Defender Roni Kuuasjarvi netted the opening goal and netminder Pyry Lammi made 15 saves for a shut-out on his first start of this year’s competition.
“It was an OK game from us,” said Santala. “We could be a little better on the basic things but we had a good win today.”
Latvia battled hard and proved difficult to score on. However, the team has problems at the other end and failed to score for the second game in a row.
“I’m very proud of our team,” said Latvian forward Olivers Murnieks. “We stuck together and played very good structurally. Our goalie did an amazing job which we need if we want to win games.
“But we need to score goals now. Two games with zero goals, that’s one thing we need to improve.”
Yesterday, Latvia was caught cold at the start of its opening loss to Canada. In game two it tried to make the early running against the favoured Finns.
In the first minute, captain Davids Tarvins forced a big save out of Lammi, making his first start in the Finnish net. And the Assat prospect, who was named goalie of the year in Finland’s U20 league, was tested again when Daniels Reidzans got clear and fired in a testing shot that Lammi seemingly knew little about as he blocked the puck and Atte Vuori scrambled it to safety.
While Latvia looked dangerous on the counter, Finland enjoyed the bulk of the attacking possession. There were warnings, with one effort clipping the outside of the post and several anxious moments around the Latvian net. And in the 14th minute Kuukasjarvi stepped onto an Eelis Uronen pass and launched an unstoppable shot past Patriks Plumins to open the scoring.
Plumins, back for his second U18s, replaced Ilja Nikitins as starting goalie and had a busy first period as Finland looked to build on the lead. Samu Alalauri dinged the piping again close to the intermission as the pressure intensified, but it remained a one-goal game at the end of the first.
Latvia showed in its opening game that it is not an easy opponent to break down: a 0-6 loss was distorted by some late Canadian goals.
Against Finland, too, there was solid defence. Even after running into penalty trouble in the second period, the Latvians remained resilient. Olegs Sorokins’ youngsters killed a five-on-three power play, then almost grabbed a shorthanded goal when Finland next had a man advantage. Murnieks forced a turnover as Juho Piiparinen tried to bring play out of his zone, setting up Reidmans on the doorstep. Lammi just got enough of it to preserve his team’s lead.
“They had some moments and we had our moments too,” said Piiparinen. “They play with a big heart, they blocked many, many shots. But I think we handled it pretty well and our goalie played a solid game also to keep their score to zero.”
That scare finally sparked another Finnish goal – and it was Santala who scored it. He added to his opening game hat-trick with a mighty one-timer from the left-hand dot to give the young Leijonat some breathing space midway through the second period.
Latvia’s resilience was tested again at the start of the third period. Martins Klaucans and Tomass Erdmanis-Hermanis went to the box together on 42:03, but the three remaining Latvian skaters kept Finland at bay. After they returned to the game, a tussle before a neutral zone face-off brought another Finnish power play; while Latvian fans lost their composure with the officials, the team stayed focused and kill another penalty.
Defensive structure was keeping Latvia alive in the contest, but the clock was ticking down and goals were not forthcoming. Finland was able to enjoy the lion’s share of possession; by the midpoint of the third period, Latvia had just three shots at Lammi as it struggled to get through centre ice.
A penalty for Olli Wahlroos offered a route back for the Latvians with eight to play. Coach Sorokins called a time-out, only to see a Finnish counter draw a foul that evened up the numbers on the ice. Instead of reducing the deficit, Latvia almost fell further behind when Alalauri clipped the crossbar. There was time for a late surge when a penalty enabled Plumins to go to the bench in the last couple of minutes, but Finland closed out a 2-0 victory.
Finland faces Slovakia tomorrow – “the biggest game of the tournament so far,” according to Piiparinen – in a battle of two teams with 100% records. Latvia faces a crunch clash against winless Norway with both teams anxious to secure a quarterfinal spot and avoid the relegation playoff.
Finland vs Latvia - 2026 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship
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