Day 9: May 2

After a day off yesterday spent in Prague, the United States held practice today at 5:45 p.m. local time ahead of tomorrow's semifinal tilt against the Czech Republic. Team USA and the host nation will faceoff at Ostravar Arena at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET) with a live U.S. broadcast on the Olympic Channel.

USA VS. CZECH REPUBLIC
In Paralympic and World Championship play, this is just the fifth meeting between the United States and Czech Republic. A year ago, the two teams faced off in preliminary-round play at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games -- a 10-0 win for the United States. Prior to that, the U.S. and Czech Republic had not met since the United States claimed a 3-0 win at the 2013 world championship. All-time, the U.S. is 3-0-1-0 and has outscored the Czechs by a 17-2 margin.

HOST BRINGS THE CROWD
The U.S. is excited of its semifinal opponent and the challenge it brings with an expected full crowd on Friday. Through four games, the host nation has averaged an attendance of 6,767 fans per game. Additionally, the tournament-opening (April 27) 10,173 spectators for the full day set a new single-day tournament record. That same day's Czech Republic vs. Japan tilt established a single-game record crowd of 7,224 spectators, which was then eclipsed on Tuesday (April 30) when the host nation's tilt against Italy brought in 7,700 fans.

TOURNAMENT LEADERS
Through quarterfinal play, the U.S. sits among the top of the leaderboard in several statistical categories. Leading the way is Team USA's special teams, which has its penalty kill clicking at a 100% efficiency rate while its powerplay percentage of 40.0% ranks second. Additionally, Team USA's 17 goals in three games ranks second-best and on the other side of the ice, its goaltending also comes in second-best with a .944 save percentage and 0.33 goals-against-average.
     Among players, Declan Farmer leads the tournament in faceoff efficiency (71.4%), sits fourth in points with seven (4-3), third in goals (4) and is tied with teammate Chris Douglas for sixth in assists with three apiece. U.S. goaltender Jen Lee has a perfect 1.00 save percentage and 0.00 goals-against-average through 60 minutes of play while Steve Cash is third in both categories (.929 SV%; 0.60 GAA) through 75 minutes.