Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) each scored three goals as the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team shut out Norway, 6-0, here at the 2017 Para Sled Hockey World Championship in Gangneung, South Korea.
"Coming into a game when you had a big win the night before is tough to fight through, but our guys did," said Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.), head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “Korea has a good team and we're playing in their home country, so we need to be mentally prepared and ready to go right from the puck drop tomorrow."
Team USA (5-0-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) will close preliminary tomorrow against host, Korea. Puck drop is slated for 3 p.m. local (2 a.m. ET) at at Gangneung Hockey Centre and will be streamed live at Gangneung2017.com. Already guaranteed a place in a medal game, a victory in tomorrow’s game will assure Team USA a spot in the gold-medal game Thursday (April 20) at 7 p.m. local (6 a.m. ET).
Roybal opened the scoring with a breakaway tally 7:18 into the first period. The play started back near the U.S. blue line, where Nikko Landeros (Johnstown, Colo.) sent a cross-ice feed to Tyler Carron (Fort Collins, Colo.), who then fired a long-range pass that allowed Roybal to skate in alone before ripping a shot past Norway’s goaltender Kissinger Deng.
The U.S. extended its lead :59 into the second stanza after Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) forced a turnover behind the net and found Farmer alone in front for the one-timer goal. The assist marked Wallace’s first point as a member of Team USA.
Less than 90 seconds later, Roybal scored again with a wrist shot that sailed up over Deng’s blocker. He then tallied his third goal of the game four minutes later by redirecting a pass from Farmer that trickled into the net.
Team USA made it 5-0 when Farmer beat Deng with a wrist shot from the hashmarks with 4:34 left in the period.
Farmer then scored his third goal of the game with a shorthanded breakaway goal :53 into the third period to account for the 6-0 final.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Norway, 32-0, went 0-for-4 on the power play and finished 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. For complete statistics, click here ... Labatt USA is a proud sponsor of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... The 2017 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship is doubling as a test event for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games and the top five teams will automatically qualify for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. ... Team USA, the tournament's defending champion, seeks back-to-back gold medals in the event for the second time (2009, 2012) ... Among the 17 players representing Team USA, 12 were members of the 2015 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team that won the 2015 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship. For the complete 2016-17 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team roster, click here ... Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of inline and sled hockey national teams for USA Hockey, is the general manager of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Joining national team head coach Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.) behind the bench is assistant coach David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.). Additional team staff members include athletic trainer Mike Cortese (Boynton Beach, Fla.), assistant coach Mike Sertich (Duluth, Minn.), equipment manager Joel Isaacson (Houghton, Mich.), and team physician Mike Uihlein (Grafton, Wis.). Cortese, Isaacson, and Uihlein have been staff members for the past four seasons.
Date (U.S) | Opponent | Result | U.S. Player of Game |
---|---|---|---|
April 12 | Sweden | W, 7-0 | Brody Roybal |
April 13 | Italy | W, 9-1 | Declan Farmer |
April 15 | Germany | W, 9-0 | Josh Pauls |
April 17 | Canada | W, 2-1 | Kevin McKee |
April 17 | Norway | W, 6-0 | Tyler Carron |
April 19 | Korea | W, 5-0 | Jack Wallace |
April 20 | Canada Gold-Medal Game |
L, 1-4 | Andy Yohe |
TODAY’S GAME
Team USA squares off with Norway in its fifth game of the 2017 Para Sled Hockey World Championship here in Gangneung, South Korea. Today’s game is slated for a 10 p.m. ET (11 a.m. local) puck drop and will be live streamed at Gangneung2017.com with live tweets available through @usahockey using the hashtag #SledWorlds.
USA VS. NORWAY
This is the seventh world championship meeting between the United States and Norway. All-time, the U.S. trails the series, 3-0-0-4 (W-OTW-OTL-L) but have won three-straight, registering shutouts in each victory. The teams last met in the semifinal of the 2015 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship in Buffalo, New York, where Adam Page (Lancaster, N.Y.) scored twice while Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) and Paul Schaus (Buffalo, N.Y.) also scored.
TRYING FOR 10 STRAIGHT
A win tonight would give the U.S. 10 straight victories in world championship play, dating back to the 6-1 tournament opening win over Russia at the 2015 event in Buffalo, New York. Team USA’s last loss in world championship play came in the gold medal game of the 2013 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship, where it fell to Canada by a 1-0 count in Goyang City, South Korea.
TEAM USA IN THE TOURNAMENT
Team USA ranks first in power play (30%), penalty kill (90.91%) and save percentage (0.935) while sitting second in goals scored (25). Declan Farmer is first in goals (8) and fifth in points (11) while Kevin McKee is second in assists (7) and Josh Pauls ranks fourth with six. Among goaltenders, Bo Reichenbach (Billings, Mont.) is tied for first with a perfect 1.00 save percentage and 0.00 goals against average while Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) is third in goals against average (0.86) and fourth in save percentage (.916).
GAME #4, APRIL 17: USA 2, CANADA 1
Steve Cash made 11 saves and Declan Farmer scored the game-winning goal to lead the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team past Canada, 2-1. Kevin McKee was named the U.S. Player of the Game.
“We had a slow start, but after the first period I thought we took our game to another level and our guys were rewarded with a hard-fought win,” said Guy Gosselin, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team.