US beats Latvia 4-2 in world hockey championship

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Trevor Moore and 18-year-old Matty Beniers scored in a 1:47 span midway through the second period to help the United States beat Latvia 4-2 on Thursday in the world hockey championship. Brian Boyle and Matt Tennyson scored in the first period and Cal Petersen made 17 saves in the Americans’ third straight victory after an opening loss to Finland. They are second in Group B, a point behind Finland. Finland beat Italy 3-0 in the other Group B game Thursday. Tony Sund scored twice, Arttu Ruotsalainen added a goal, and Harri Sateri made 11 saves. In Group A, Switzerland routed Slovakia 8-1, and the Czech Republic beat Sweden 4-2. Switzerland joined Slovakia and Russia atop the group standings.