SKIEN, Norway – Lera Doederlein (San Diego, Calif.) tallied a hat trick to help the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team to an 8-0 victory over Team Europe in its first game of the 2024 Para Ice Hockey Women’s World Challenge at Skien Fritidspark.
“It was great to get back on the ice and see the team playing together again,” said Rose Misiewicz, head coach of the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team. “They showed a lot of improvement each period, and it was fun to see how they’ve grown as a team from last season.”
Kelsey DiClaudio (Plum, Pa.) opened the scoring 58 seconds into the contest. Chloe Kirkpatrick (Bemidji, Minn.) added an assist on the play.
Just 23 seconds later, Doederlein found Jamie Benassi (Newton, Ohio) in the slot, who batted the puck home to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead.
At the 4:21 mark, DiClaudio sent a feed across the slot to Doederlein, who capitalized to put Team USA up 3-0.
DiClaudio recorded her second goal of the contest with 3:42 to play in the opening frame, stickhandling past the defense before launching a wrist shot top right to give the U.S. a 4-0 advantage.
Team USA took a 5-0 lead 3:55 into the middle frame when Catherine Faherty (Norwell, Mass.) threaded a back-door pass across the offensive zone to Madison Eberhard (Buffalo, N.Y.), who buried a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle.
Doderlein added her second tally of the game at the 6:09 mark of the second period, capitalizing on a wrist shot from the slot into the top-right corner.
With 4:06 remaining in the second, Kirkpatrick directed the puck off the back of the goaltender from behind the net to give the U.S. a 7-0 lead.
In the closing seconds of the contest, Doederlein completed a hat trick to account for the 8-0 final.
Gabby Graves-Wake (Phoenix, Ariz.) registered a shutout in goal for the U.S.
Women’s World Challenge action continues tomorrow (Oct. 26) with Team USA taking on Great Britain at 11 a.m. The game will live stream here.
NOTES: Team USA outshot Team Europe 29-1 … The U.S. was 1-1 on the power play, while Team Europe did not have a power play … Kelsey DiClaudio was named U.S. Player of the Game.
Source: usahockey.com