OSTRAVA, Czechia – Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) scored four times, and Josh Misiewicz (La Grange, Ill.) added a pair of goals to help the U.S. National Sled Team to an 8-2 victory over Canada here today in its final game of preliminary round play at the International Para Hockey Cup at RT Torax Arena.

The U.S. concludes the preliminary round with a 3-0 record and will play Team IPH in the semifinals tomorrow (Sept. 28) at 10:00 a.m. ET. A live stream of the game will be available here.

“I thought we came out flying in the first period and really set the tone for the rest of the game,” said David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.), head coach of the U.S. National Sled Team, “Declan Farmer led the way with a solid offensive performance today, and our offense as a whole was excellent with solid contributions from Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.), Josh Misiewicz, and Malik Jones (Aurora, Colo.).”

Goaltender Griffin LaMarre (Haverhill, Mass) was tested early on, shutting down a point-blank opportunity from Canada just over a minute into the game. Newcomer Brett Bolton (Rockledge, Fla.) put the U.S. on the board at 2:55, firing a shot from the high slot that found the bottom left corner. The U.S. generated several quality opportunities throughout the period, including during a power play where Misiewicz nearly scored as his shot ricocheted off the post. Moments later, Misiewicz capitalized on the man advantage off of a feed from Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) to extend the U.S. lead to 2-0 with :56 remaining in the stanza. 

Brody Roybal forced a turnover in the offensive zone and sent a no-look pass to Misiewicz who made it 3-0 just 1:22 into the second period. Declan Farmer tallied his first of the game while on the power play off a feed from captain Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) to give the U.S. a 4-0 advantage and the U.S. ultimately took a 4-1 lead into the third period.

LaMarre made another key stop with Canada on the power play just more than three minutes into the third period as he dove across the crease to make a glove save and preserve the 4-1  U.S. lead. Moments later, Malik Jones forced a turnover in the offensive zone and found Farmer for his second goal of the game. Farmer then scored his third and fourth goals just 14 seconds apart midway through the period to extend the U.S. lead. 

Roybal finished a one-on-one opportunity with 2:34 remaining in the contest to give the U.S. an 8-1 lead. Canada scored a late power play goal to account for the 8-2 final.

NOTES: Declan Farmer was named U.S. Player of the Game… Farmer has a tournament-leading nine goals, and today marked his second-straight game with a hat trick … The U.S. outshot Canada 35-4… The U.S. was 2-2 on the powerplay, while Canada was 2-4.