ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ithaca College football assistant coach Mark McDonough was a member of the coaching staff that helped lead the USA Football entry at the Under-19 World Championships to the gold medal. The United States defeated Canada 40-17 in the championship game Wednesday at Kuwait City, Kuwait. The tournament was conducted by the International Federation of American Football and included teams representing eight nations.

The US team won all three of its round-robin games to advance to the championship game. The Americans defeated Mexico 49-14 on July 7, blanked Germany 54-0 on July 10, and shutout Japan 43-0 on July 13. In the gold-medal game, Canada held a 14-12 lead at halftime, but the United States held the Canadians to just three second-half points and went on to a convincing win. In the tournament, the United States defense allowed just 31 points over four games, and opponents gained just 181.2 yards per game.

The roster was comprised of 44 U.S. high school and college football players and included athletes representing 20 states. Team preparation began at a training camp June 25 to July 1 at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. The team departed for Kuwait on July 2.

McDonough enters his fourth season as Ithaca's defensive coordinator in 2014. In 2013, Ithaca's defense ranked 22nd of 242 NCAA Division III teams in scoring defense, allowing just 15.9 points per game. The nationally-ranked Bombers open the season at home Sept. 6 against Union.

Gold-medal game recap from USAfootball.com

Complete Tournament Statistics