Sunday, December 28, 2025
U.S. Collegiate Selects Win Group Cattini at Spengler Cup
Win Over Davos Paired with Canada Loss Sends Collegians to Semifinals
DAVOS, Switzerland – The United States College Selects got the help they needed on Sunday, as Spengler Cup host HC Davos defeated Team Canada 4-1, sending the USCS through to the tournament semifinals as the winners of Group Cattini. Davos finishes second in the group, while Canada slides to third. The USCS will face the winner of tomorrow’s Sparta Praha/Team Canada contest on Tuesday at 3:10pm (9:10am ET).
“The team played two hard fought games and earned a day off tomorrow,” said Selects head coach Guy Gadowsky. “We plan to take advantage of it and enjoy this beautiful town.”
A fourth tiebreaker was needed to separate the Selects from Davos and Canada after the three teams each won a game in the opening stage. Ultimately, beating Davos was difference after they and the USCS were all square on points (3), goal differential (+1) and total goals for (7).
The USCS finished group play yesterday, topping Davos 5-3 behind two goals and an assist from Quinn Finley (Suamico, Wis./Wisconsin). Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa./Penn State) also buried a pair, while Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alta./Penn State) and Zam Plante (Hermantown, Minn./Minnesota Duluth) each had two helpers. Goaltender Adam Gajan (Poprad, Slovakia/Minnesota Duluth) turned away 29-of-32 shots, including all 11 he faced in the opening frame.
The University of Minnesota and University of North Dakota sent teams to the Spengler Cup in 1981 and 1982, respectively, but were only able to come away with one victory between them, when UND defeated host HC Davos 6-4 on December 27, 1982 – exactly 43 years to the day from the Selects’ victory on Saturday night.
In its opening game of tournament on Friday, the USCS fell to Team Canada 3-2 despite a furious comeback effort. Trailing 3-0 at 11:50 of the second period, defenseman Gavin McCarthy (Clarence Center, N.Y./Boston University) got the USCS back in the game, taking a feed from Joey Muldowney (Lake View, N.Y./Connecticut) and ripping home the team’s first-ever Spengler Cup goal.
Jack Musa (Orange Park, Fla./Massachusetts) then drew the USCS within a goal at 7:50 of the third, beating veteran netminder James Reimer five-goal on a breakaway. The Selects had their chances to pull even late but were stymied by Reimer.
Despite being outshot 35-30, the USCS won the shot attempts battle 67-49, including a dominant 27-13 advantage in the middle frame, in which it was outscored 3-1. Jake Livanavage (Phoenix, Ariz./North Dakota) finished with a game-high six shots on goal from the blue line, while Danny Nelson (Maple Grove, Minn./Notre Dame) went a USCS-best 9-7 on the draw. Josh Kotai (Abbotsford, B.C./Augustana) made 32 saves between the pipes.
Group Torriani was captured by HC Fribourg-Gottéron, which took all six points from their matchups with HC Sparta Praha and IFK Helsinki, winning by scores of 5-2 and 4-3, respectively. Sparta defeated Helsinki 4-1 to finish second and leave the Finns as the only winless team in the competition so far.
Tournament action resumes on Monday with Canada and Sparta Praha facing off at 3:10pm (9:10am ET) with the winner moving on to face the USCS on Tuesday afternoon. Host Davos then takes on Helsinki at 8:15pm (2:15pm ET).
For more information on the Spengler Cup, visit www.spenglercup.ch/en. All 11 games can be seen for free on YouTube in the United States by visiting www.youtube.com/@SpenglerCupDavos.
Contact: Perry Laskaris
Director of Communications
United States Collegiate Selects
Laskaris@ccha.com
(651) 308-1065