Team USA Skates to 13-0 Victory Over Slovakia in Sled Worlds Preliminary Round Action
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) tallied his 200th career point, Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) scored four goals, and Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) recorded a seven-point hat trick to lead the U.S. National Sled Team to a 13-0 victory over Slovakia in the preliminary round of the 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Championship here today at LECOM Harborcenter.
Team USA will play in its third and final preliminary-round contest on Tuesday (May 27) against Czechia. Fans can purchase tickets here. The game will stream live on USAHockeyTV.com and Peacock.
“I liked how we spread the scoring out,” said David Hoff, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Team. “When we have everyone going, we are really though to stop, and we set the tone early on today.”
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Kevin McKee (Davenport, Iowa) opened the scoring 2:11 into the contest, capitalizing on a shot from the slot that was inadvertently redirected by the stick of a Slovakian defender.
Just nine second slater, Wallace doubled the U.S. lead when he weaved through the offensive zone before burying a wrister from just outside the crease over the blocker of Slovakian netminder Eduard Lepacek.
After collecting a feed from Evan Nichols (Haymarket, Va.) along the half wall, Farmer careened back towards the net, deking past Slovakian defenders before going top-shelf to give the U.S. a 3-0 lead at the 4:21 mark.
McKee collected his second tally of the contest 25 seconds later when he batted home a rebound at the top of the crease off a shot from Wallace. David Eustace (Stoneham, Mass.) also added a helper on the play.
At 7:03 in the first, Farmer scored his second of the game, swatting his own rebound past Lepacek just in front of the net to take a 5-0 lead.
Malik Jones (Aurora, Colo.) increased the U.S. advantage 57 seconds into the middle stanza when he gathered a feed from Josh Misiewicz (La Grange, Ill.) in the neutral zone, skating by two defenders to create a breakaway opportunity. He stickhandled onto his left and found the back of the net to make it a 6-0 game.
Farmer completed a hat trick with 3:33 to play in the middle frame when he collected a pass from Noah Grove(Frederick, Md.) at the bottom of the right circle and lifted the puck over the shoulder of Lepacek.
Just over a minute into the final frame, Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) scored with a wrist shot from the bottom of the circles off a feed from Misiewicz to give the U.S. an 8-0 advantage.
At the 2:31 mark, a pass from Wallace deflected off a Slovakian defender to Farmer in the slot, who capitalized for his fourth of the contest.
Wallace added two tallies in the third to increase the advantage to 11-0, first scoring at the 3:57 mark off a nifty behind-the-back pass from Roybal on a two-on-one chance, and then completing a hat trick by redirecting a pass from Farmer home at 6:21.
Grove roofed a breakaway opportunity to make it 12-0 with 7:40 remaining in the contest.
With under five minutes to play, Kayden Beasley (Coats, N.C.) found the back of the net for the 13th and final goal of the contest. Pauls earned the assist on the play to record his 200th career point, making him one of just three players in team history to reach the milestone.
Griffin LaMarre (Haverhill, Mass.) earned a shutout in goal for Team USA.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Slovakia 36-2 … Team USA was 0-1 on the power play, while Slovakia was 0-1 … Kevin McKee was named U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA clinched a spot in the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina.
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Source: usahockey.com