In Sunda'ys earlier matchup, Team USA was back at full strength and put away Germany 15-10 to move on to the semi-finals.
The Americans and Latvians move on to face Czechia and Finland, winners of Saturdays' QF games, in the semi-finals set for next weekend.
2022 IIHF eWorld Championship: Tournament Website / Live Stream
LATVIA vs. SWEDEN: 9-8 (3-0, 1-2, 2-3, 3-2, 1-0)
Latvia shocks Sweden in overtime
Latvia pulled out all the stops to eliminate a talented Swedish team and advance in an incredible 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship quarter-final upset.
Latvians Kristers 'chibra' Bauers and Juris 'snipencelly8' Lopatko put up an early lead only to see it evaporate with less than 15 seconds to go in the final game of the four-game series – before winning it all in overtime against the Tre Kronor on an early goal from ‘chibra’.
The Swedes had scored 24 of a possible 24 points in Group D, and looked every bit a title contender going into the game. They opted to play the U.S. national team in NHL™ 22 in the first knockout round. Latvia played as Team Canada, which has a stronger overall rating. Because of the ratings difference, competitors are allowed to select a country only once in the playoffs.
'chibra' sends Latvia into the semis
Sweden had problems from the beginning: Sebastian 'SebbeLarsen86' Larsen had to accept a clear 0-3 defeat against 'chibra'. Henrik 'eken45jr' Eklund fought back on the Xbox against 'snipencelly8' (2-1).
After a 3-2 win by 'SebbeLarsen86' against 'chibra', 'eken45jr' was just one goal behind on aggregate coming into the last game. After a wild finale that saw many lead changes, he managed to equalize with 8-8 in the overall score with 14.6 second remaining, tying up the aggregate score.
With the games being shown simultaneously on a double screen on the IIHF Twitch account, fans watched as Latvia’s 'chibra' called game and completed the upset less than two minutes in for the 9-8 win.
The Latvians move on to face defending champions Finland in the semi-final round.
United States hold off Germany, advance to semis
The USA has made it to the semi-finals of the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship. The co-favourites defeated Germany 15-10 on Sunday.
In the group stage, David 'JrPens' Roebuck made it through without the support of teammate Joseph 'Jos' Olmstead, who was not abe to participate due to a technical issue. In the quarter-finals, 'Jos' was finally able to step up and make his debut at the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship.
His teammate, an early eWorlds MVP candidate based on his group stage performance, opened the matchup by beating German Luca 'Cpt_DirtyDangler' Knoll 4-1 to put USA in the lead. Afterwards 'Jos' got the chance to his skills for the first time against Kevin 'Kevinator-373' Würterle.
'JrPens' remains unbeaten, 'Jos' makes debut
He prevailed on Xbox and extended the US lead with another 4-1 win. In the second PlayStation game, 'JrPens' kept up the pressure and inflicted a second defeat on 'Cpt_DirtyDangler' with a 4-2 victory.
'Jos' entered the last game with a 12-4 lead. There, 'Kevinator-373' shortened the overall result with a 6-3 score – but it would not be enough as the USA moved on to the semi-finals of the IIHF eWorld Championship with a score of 15-10.
Besides the Latvians, the Finns were celebrating again on Sunday: Six influencers, content creators and eSports pros defeated Team Germany in IIHF Sixes in 6vs6 mode with 3-2 – also in overtime.
In 6vs6 mode, the score was tied 2-2 after three regular thirds. In the overtime the Finnish offence around eSports pros Erik 'ENCEKI' Tammenpää and Valtteri 'Vattuyy' Virtanen secured a 3-2 win against Team Germany.