The 2022 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team will take on host China in the semifinals today at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. Puck drop is set for 8:05 p.m. local time, 7:05 a.m. ET and the game will be televised live on USA Network.
The U.S. earned an automatic bye to the semifinals after going undefeated 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in the preliminary round with wins over Canada and South Korea. Team USA only faced two opponents in the preliminary round after RPC athletes were denied participation by the IPC, as announced on March 3, 2021.
THE SERIES vs. CHINA
Today's game marks the first meeting between the United States and China on both the Paralympic and international stage. Team China went undefeated in the preliminary round and defeated Czechia 4-3 in the quarterfinals to enter today's matchup a perfect 4-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L).
GAME 1 RECAP: USA 5, CANADA 0
Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) tallied one goal and three assists to become Team USA’s all-time points leader at the Paralympic Winter Games and Jen Lee (San Francisco, Calif.) recorded a shutout as the 2022 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team defeated Canada, 5-0, in the preliminary round opener of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
GAME 2 RECAP: USA 9, KOREA 1
Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) scored a hat trick in the first period and Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) tallied five points as the 2022 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team defeated South Korea, 9-1, in its preliminary-round finale of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
NEWCOMERS SHINE FOR TEAM USA
In Team USA's Paralympic opener against Canada, Malik
Jones (Aurora, Colo.) scored his first career Paralympic goal in Team USA's opener against Canada. Jones scored the team's third goal of the game 10:27 into the second period to give the U.S. a 3-0 lead. The U.S. went on to defeat Canada 5-0. Jones added two goals against South Korea and now owns three goals in this tournament. In his Paralympic debut, Evan Nichols (Haymarket, Va.) tallied three assists for Team USA against South Korea to help the U.S. close out preliminary round play 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L).
PARALYMPIC TENURE
With his appearance in Team USA's second preliminary round game against South Korea, Josh
Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) took over the top spot in the U.S. record for most Paralympic appearances. Pauls has hit the ice in 17 Paralympic matchups, the most of any player in Team USA history. Pauls, who has played in part in each of Team USA's historic gold-medal runs (2010, 2014, 2018) surpassed Joe Howard's previous record of 16 Paralympic appearances. Howard played in the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.