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VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Eric Blum and Matthias Joggi scored power-play goals in the third period to help Switzerland rally for a 2-2 tie with the United States on Friday in the world junior hockey championship.

Bobby Ryan and Geoff Paukovich had first-period goals for the United States (2-0-1), which must beat Canada (3-0) on Saturday night to win Group A. Ryan, from Cherry Hill, N.J., plays for Owen Sound in the Ontario Hockey League, and Paukovich, from Englewood, Colo., is a sophomore at the University of Denver.

"You're never happy with a tie; you're trying to win," U.S. coach Walt Kyle said. "The reality is we have to come back and play tomorrow, and whatever the outcome tomorrow is, we have to come back and play again."

Blum made it 2-1 at 7:53 of the third period with a sharp-angle shot that hit Boston College goalie Cory Schneider on the arm and went into the net.

"That one surprised me a little bit," Schneider said. "I didn't see the guy right there on the doorstep. It's my fault for not being on the post."

Joggi scored on a two-man advantage with 5:52 left. He controlled a rebound at the right side of the net and lifted a shot over Schneider.

"It hurts," said Erik Johnson, a defenseman from Bloomington, Minn., who plays for the U.S. National U-18 team. "We're supposed to beat a team like Switzerland. We just have to get ready for tomorrow."

The United States, 15-0-2 against Switzerland (1-1-1) in world junior play, opened the tournament with an 11-2 victory over Norway on Monday night and rallied to beat Finland 6-5 on Wednesday night.

The Group A winner will advance to the semifinals Tuesday night. The second-place team will play the third-place team in Group B in the quarterfinals Monday night.

In the second Group A game in Vancouver on Friday night, Perttu Lindgren had a goal and four assists in Finland's 9-1 victory over Norway.

Aki Seitsonen added two goals and an assist and Timo Seppanen also scored twice for Finland (1-2). Norway finished the tournament 0-4.

In Group B, the Czech Republic and Sweden both improved to 2-1.

In Kelowna, David Krejci scored three goals and Radek Fiala made 26 saves in the Czech Republic's 5-3 victory over Slovakia.

Petr Pohl and Tomas Kudelka also scored for the Czech Republic, which will play Russia (3-0) on Saturday night. Marek Zagrapan, Juraj Gracik and Ladislav Scurko scored for Slovakia (1-2).

In Kamloops, Nicklas Backstrom had three goals and an assist in Sweden's 10-2 victory over Latvia. Fredrik Pettersson added two goals and an assist for Sweden. Latvia finished the tournament 0-4.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press