The U.S. team beat Latvia 4-1 on Sunday in the IIHF Men's World Championship in Helsinki, Finland.
For the second game in a row, the U.S. fell behind but rallied. The U.S. beat Austria 5-3 in its first game after trailing 2-0.
This time, Latvia took a 1-0 lead in the second before the U.S. team scored two goals in the second period and two in the third.
"It was a tough game," said Joe Sacco, head coach of the U.S. team in a news release. "I give our guys credit. They battled hard. We had solid goaltending and got better as the game wore on. It's difficult to win in this tournament. We've been able to come away with victories in our first two games and we'll look forward to a day off before we face Russia on Tuesday."
That could be a big test. The Russians beat Latvia 6-0. The U.S.-Russia game is 12:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Forward Tim Stapleton, a former UMD player, had a goal and an assist againat Latvia. He plays for Dynamo Minsk now. Defenseman Erik Johnson, of Bloomington, also had an assist. Johnson plays for the Colorado Avalanche.
The U.S. team outshot Latvia 26-20, 14-3 in the third period.
