MINOT, N.D. – The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team beat Canada 5-2 and the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team earned a 7-2 win over Canada here today at MAYSA Arena in the third and final games of the 2024 Sled Series.
With the victories, both teams finish the series with an unbeaten 3-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record. The U.S. National Sled Team is now 13-0-0-0 on the season, while the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Team stands at 7-0-0-0.
Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) and Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) each tallied three points to help lead the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team to a 5-2 victory over Canada in its third and final game of the 2024 Sled Series at MAYSA Arena.
“We got off to a good start but we got a little loose and made it hard on ourselves,” said David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.), head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “We picked it up at the end of the second period and that was the difference, and we finished strong.”
Farmer opened the scoring 1:44 into the contest with a breakaway goal after he corralled a loose puck in the neutral zone and used his speed to blaze past two Canadian defenders to set up a one-on-one with the goaltender.
Canada’s Vincent Boily knotted the game up at one goal apiece with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle at 8:14 in the first.
Jen Lee (San Francisco, Calif.) kept the game tied with a diving save across the crease on a shot from Tyler McGregor early in the middle frame.
At the 8:58 mark of the second, Farmer picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone and fought through contact to capitalize with a left-handed rocket into the top corner.
Liam Hickey scored on a breakaway to tie the game up at 2-2 for Canada with 3:44 to play in the period.
In the final minute of the middle stanza, Team USA picked up two quick goals to jump out to a 4-2 lead heading into the third.
While on the power play, Wallace gathered a stretch pass from Farmer at the far blue line and maneuvered into the slot before rifling a go-ahead goal into the top corner with 35 seconds to play in the period. Just 12 seconds later, Wallace found Josh Misiewicz (La Grange, Ill.) with a back door pass that Misiewicz finished from a nearly impossible angle while straddling the goal line.
Wallace added an empty net tally in the final minute of play to seal the 5-2 victory for the U.S.
Lee picked up the win in goal for Team USA.
NOTES: Team USA was 1-1 on the power play, while Canada was 0-2 … The U.S. outshot Canada 29-12.
MINOT, N.D. -- Kelsey DiClaudio (Plum, Pa.) tallied four goals to help the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team earn a 7-2 victory over Canada here today in the third and final game of the 2024 Sled Series at MAYSA Arena.
With the win, Team USA finished the series with a 3-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record to move to 7-0-0-0 on the season.
“It was a great series,” said Rose Misiewicz (Duluth, Minn.), head coach of the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team. “Overall, it was really fun to see the ladies grew and improvedas we went along.”
The U.S. scored three times in the opening two minutes of the contest to take control.
Catherine Faherty (Norwell, Mass.) picked up the opening tally at the 1:10 mark when she carried the puck into the offensive zone and launched a wrister from the top the circles that found the back of the net
DiClaudio scored 13 seconds later when she collected a loose puck off the faceoff at center ice and cruised into the zone before capitalizing on a breakaway chance to expand the lead to 2-0.
Just 22 seconds later, DiClaudio struck again when she weaved through the Canadian defense and fired a shot from the slot that found the top left corner.
At the 5:04 mark of the middle frame, DiClaudio scored again to complete a natural hat trick, stickhandling past a Canadian defender as she cut across the slot before slipping the puck into the bottom left corner.
Canada made it a 4-1 game 1:47 into the third period while on the power play when Hailey Haliksent a shot from the top of the right circle through traffic out that found the back of the U.S. net.
With 9:46 remaining in the contest, Lera Doederlein (San Diego, Calif.) put the U.S. up 5-1, capitalizing on a two-on-once chance with Jamie Benassi (Newtown, Ohio).
Rachel Grusse (Vernon, Conn.) added to the tally with a laser from the slot with just over a minute to play, and DiClaudio scored her fourth goal of the game on breakaway with 21 seconds remaining to put Team USA up 7-1.
Canada added a goal in the closing seconds to account for the 7-2 final.
Hope Magelky (Bismark, N.D.) and Hope Bevilhymer (West Jordan, Utah) split time in the U.S. net in the victory.
NOTES: Team USA was 0-4 on the power play, while Canada was 1-1 … The U.S. outshot Canada 36-3.