CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Declan Farmer (Tampa Fla.) recorded a hat trick and added a helper, while Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) collected four assists to help the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team to a 7-1 victory over Czechia in the preliminary round of the 2024 Para Hockey Cup at the Bell Aliant Centre.
“I thought we were a little sloppy defensively, but I really like the things we are trying to do on offense,” said David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.), head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “Overall, it was a strong performance and a good team win.”
The U.S. jumped out to an early lead just 46 seconds into the contest when Wallace threaded a back door pass to Evan Nichols (Haymarket, Va.) across the slot, who pushed the puck across the goal line to put Team USA up 1-0. Josh Misiewicz (La Grange, Ill.) also recorded an assist on the play.
At the 5:05 mark, Griffin LaMarre (Haverhill, Mass.) shut down a breakaway opportunity for Czechia with a glove save to maintain the U.S. advantage.
U.S. captain Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) doubled the lead on the power play with 6:46 remaining in the first, with helpers from Farmer and Wallace.
GAME PHOTOS
With 2:16 to play in the opening frame, Noah Grove (Frederick, Md.) sent a pass from the top of the left circle to Misiewicz in the slot, who redirected the puck through traffic past Czechia netminder Martin Kudela to put the U.S. up 3-0.
Despite being outnumbered on a two-man rush into the offensive zone, Malik Jones (Aurora, Colo.) found Farmer with a pass through the slot, who capitalized from the top of the crease to give Team USA a 4-0 lead at the 2:57 mark of the middle frame.
Czechia’s Vaclav Hecko scored at 3:55 to make it a 4-1 game.
With 5:11 to play in the second stanza, Farmer gathered a loose puck in the offensive zone and fired home a wrist shot from just inside the right faceoff dot for a power play tally to extend the U.S. lead.
Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.) found Kevin McKee (Davenport, Iowa) in the slot on an odd-man rush, who snapped the puck top-shelf past Kudela to give Team USA a 6-1 lead with 3:36 remaining in the second.
Just over a minute later, Kayden Beasley (Coats, N.C.) connected with Farmer in the offensive zone, who capitalized from the bottom of the circles to complete a hat trick.
Both sides were held scoreless in the third period to seal the 7-1 victory for Team USA.
LaMarre picked up the win in goal for the U.S.
The U.S. will take on Canada Wednesday (Dec. 11) in its third and final preliminary round contest at the Bell Aliant Centre. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. local/6 p.m. ET, and the game will live stream here.
NOTES: Team USA outshot Czechia 32-9 … The U.S. was 2-2 on the power play, while Czechia was 0-2. Kayden Beasley was named U.S. Player of the Game.
Source: usahockey.com