Team USA captain Joey Anderson skates against Ru sia in the World Junior Championship quarterfinals. One down, two to go. Fresh off a thrilling quarterfinals victory over Ru sia, the United States will take on Sweden Thursday afternoon in Buffalo at 4 p.m. ET with a spot in the World Junior Championship gold medal game on the line. The Americans are looking to repeat as tournament champions for the first time ever, and they'll need two more wins to do so. The semifinal matchup against Sweden should be a tough test for the Americans, as Sweden finished atop Group B with an undefeated preliminary round. Heading into the contest, here's what you'll need to know. How to watch Who: Team USA vs. Sweden When: Thursday, January 4th, 4 p.m. (ET) Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY TV: NHL Network, TSN1/3/4/5 What's on the line? Well, for one, Team USA's chance to repeat as champions at the WJC for the first time in American program history. The winner of USA-Sweden will await the winner of Canada-Czech Republic in the gold medal game on Ed Belfour Jersey Friday. Sweden has an incredible 44-game winning streak in the preliminary round of the WJC, but they haven't finished higher than fourth in the medal round since 2014. They'll look to snap that disappointing trend with a victory against the Americans on Thursday. The losers from the USA-Sweden and Canada-Czech Republic matches will meet for the bronze medal game on Friday afternoon. How did the teams finish the preliminary round? The Americans had a rollercoaster opening round and finished with a 3-1 record. Their , but they quickly bounced back with a . The Americans also took down Denmark and Finland. Meanwhile, Sweden went 4-0 in their preliminary round, though they did suffer a scare in their final game against Ru sia, which they won in a shootout. This is the first time that USA and Sweden will meet this year. Schedule The 2018 World Juniors medal round runs through this week, with the tournament concluding with medal games on Friday. Here's a complete rundown of the next wave of games: Thursday, Jan. 4 (Semifinals) Denmark vs. Belarus, 12 p.m. (Relegation) USA vs. Sweden , 4 p.m. Canada vs. Czech Republic , 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5 (Finals) Denmark vs. Belarus, 12 p.m. (Relegation) Bronze medal game : TBD vs. TBD, 4 p.m. Gold medal game : TBD vs. TBD, 8 p.m. Mats Sundin Jersey