FUSSEN, Germany – Beating Canada for the first time in 10 years and earning a share of first place at the World Junior Championships aren’t enough to satisfy United States coach Walt Kyle.

“We want to win the gold medal,” Kyle said Wednesday after his team took a major step toward that goal with a 5-3 victory over Canada, the two-time defending champion.

Steve Konowalchuk and Chris Ferraro each scored twice as the Americans improved their record to 4-1-0 with their first victory over the Canadians in a decade. That left them tied with the former Soviet entry, the Community of Independent States, for first place. The USA-CIS game will be played Thursday, then the Americans finish with Czechoslovakia on Saturday.

The CIS was upset 5-2 by Czechoslovakia, handing the CIS its first defeat and giving the Czechoslovaks their second win.

“Obviously, we’re in a great position to win the gold medal,” said Ferraro, who along with his twin brother Peter has been among the top American players. “We knew we were playing a good team. We played as best as we could as a team and, obviously, the biggest part of our success was the team effort involved.”

Canada (2-1-2) led 2-1 at the end of the first period on a pair of goals by Kimbi Daniels, offsetting Konowalchuk’s goal. The Americans tied the game late in the second period on Ferraro’s first goal and went ahead at 6:03 of the third period on his second goal.

Brian Rolston, a first-round pick by New Jersey in June’s NHL entry draft, scored an unassisted power-play goal at 14:19 to make it 4-2. Just 29 seconds later, Canada cut the deficit to one on Jeff Nelson’s goal. But Konowalchuk’s second goal, an empty-netter with 20 seconds left, clinched the win.

Goalie Mike Dunham of the University of Maine made 51 saves for the U.S. squad.

“I’m really proud of the guys. I think everybody on the team played really well,” Kyle said. “They played as a team and the guys really executed well. It was an outstanding effort.”

Canada sank to fourth place with six points and two games remaining: against Czechoslovakia on Thursday and the CIS on Saturday.

Sweden (3-1-1) moved into third place with seven points, beating Switzerland 4-3. The Swedes may hold an advantage in the race for the gold medal. They finish by playing winless Germany and Finland (2-2-1). U.S. 5, Canada 3

(Wednesday) Canada 2 0 1 – 3 United States 1 1 3 – 5

First Period – 1, United States, Konowalchuk (C.Ferraro), 11:15. 2, Canada, Daniels (Junker), 12:26. 3, Canada, Daniels (Lindros), 15:14 (pp). Penalties – Lilley, U.S. (high-sticking), :25; Penney, Can (slashing), 3:02; Brennan, U.S. (hooking), 3:17; Schriner, U.S. (cross-checking), 14:45.

Second Period – 4. United States, C.Ferraro (Lachance, P.Ferraro), 17:56. Penalties – Konowalchuk, U.S. (high-sticking), 6:07; Sydor, Can (tripping), 7:29; P.Ferraro, U.S. (holding), 12:28; Wright, Can (elbowing), 19:21.

Third Period – 5, United States, C.Ferraro (P.Ferraro), 6:03. 6, United States, Rolston, 14:19 (pp). 7, Canada, Nelson (Stevenson), 14:48. 8, United States, Konowalchuk (Peake), 19:40 (en). Penalties – Junker, Can (high-sticking), :50; Schriner, U.S. (cross-checking), 10:55; Cullimore, Can (high-sticking), 14:00.

Shots on goal – Canada 22-12-20-54. United States 10-14-13-37.

Power-play Opportunites – Canada 1 of 6; United States 1 of 5.

Goalies – Canada, Kidd. United States, DUNHAM.

Attendance – 3,000.

Referee – Ari Mykkanen, Finland.