After going down 1-0 in the opening minute of regulation, Howard kickstarted a six-goal scoring run when Cruz Lucius (Grant, Minn.) fed a drop pass to Howard who fired the puck between the legs of Swiss goaltender Alessio Beglieri to tie the game with 12:16 to play in the first period.
Howard doubled the U.S. lead to 2-1 at the 9:30 mark of the period when his wrist shot from the top of the zone found the back of the net on the power play.
After being awarded a penalty shot, Lane Hutson (North Barrington, Ill.) beat Beglieri glove-side to extend Team USA’s lead to 3-1 heading into the first intermission.
Outshooting Switzerland, 16-7, in the middle frame, the U.S. took a 4-1 lead after Frank Nazar (Mt. Clemens, Mich.) collected a loose puck in the offensive zone and fired a close-range shot past Beglieri 42 seconds into the period.
Cutter Gauthier (Northville, Mich.) and Rutger McGroarty (Lincoln, Neb.) scored back-to-back goals in the opening moments of the third period to give the U.S. a 6-1 lead.
Switzerland cut the lead to 6-2 on the power play with 4:03 to play in regulation, but Howard notched his third goal of the game to secure his second-straight hat trick and regain the five-goal lead for the U.S.
Ryan Chesley (Mahtomedi, Minn.) rounded out the scoring with a tally of his own to secure an 8-2 victory for the United States.
