OSTRAVA, Czechia – Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) scored two goals and added two assists, while Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) tallied twice to lead the U.S. National Sled Team to a 10-1 victory over Team IPH here today in the semifinals at the International Para Hockey Cup at RT Torax Arena.
The U.S will play the winner of the Canada-Czechia semifinal on Friday (Sept. 30) at 1:00 p.m. ET in the IPH Cup championship game. A live stream of the game will be available here.
“Our team’s skill and speed continue to shine,” said David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.), head coach of the U.S. National Sled Team. “We are looking forward to the championship game on Friday night.”
Roybal opened the scoring, firing a shot from the slot into the top corner 3:46 into the first period. Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) made it 2-0 less than two minutes later after a feed from Roybal sent him on a breakaway chance. Wallace then forced a turnover in the offensive zone and found Malik Jones (Aurora, Colo.) out in front 47 seconds later to extend the lead. Farmer, captain Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.), and Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.) all picked up tallies for a 6-0 U.S. lead before Roybal scored his second of the game with 1:38 remaining in the opening frame after he gathered the puck off a deflection from the right slot.
Team IPH got on the board 3:56 into the second frame, scoring on a shot from the point. With 8:24 remaining in the stanza, Roybal found Ben Musselman (Amelia, Ohio) on a no-look drop pass and Musselman finished a breakaway chance for his third goal of the tournament. Newcomer Rob Easley (Denver, Colo.) won a race to a loose puck in the offensive zone and found the low corner with just over five minutes to go in the period and the U.S. maintained a 9-1 advantage after 30 minutes.
Farmer scored game’s final goal 1:48 into the third period after Dodson’s pass found him on the doorstep.
Griffin LaMarre (Haverhill, Mass.) and Chris McCoy (O’Fallon, Mo.) combined for the win in the U.S. net.
NOTES: Brody Roybal was named U.S. Player of the Game… The U.S. outshot Team IPH 24-4… The U.S. was 1-3 on the powerplay, while Team IPH was 0-1.