Finnegan would move on swiftly once more, leaving the team after 1948 to prepare for the 1949 World Championships. He played for the US National Team with legends like Charlie Holt, Jack Riley, Jack Kelley and Bruce Mather. The team swept through the preliminary round with ease, scoring 12 goals in all three games. In the first game of the final round they suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of Switzerland, whom they had defeated three days before by a score of 12–5. The team could ill afford another loss but their next opponent was Canada and the US's gold medal hopes were ended with a 7–2 loss. The team recovered with three consecutive wins, including over gold-medalist Czechoslovakia, to earn a bronze medal.