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U.S. National Sled Team Tops Korea, 5-0, at World Sledge Hockey Challenge

By USAHockey.com, 12/02/13, 8:00PM MST

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TORONTO, Ontario – Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) scored twice and Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) had three points to help the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team to a 5-0 victory over Korea in its second game of the 2013 World Sledge Hockey Challenge here tonight.

“We were better tonight than we were yesterday,” said head coach Jeff Sauer. “We did things that we needed to do to win. We wanted to put some pressure on and do some things on the power play, and it worked well. We got some guys with less experience in there, which bodes well for us down the road.”

Farmer broke through for the game’s first tally just 3:48 into the contest. With the U.S. on the power play, Nikko Landeros (Johnstown, Colo.) won a race to a loose puck near the offensive blue line and made a quick move to get past a Korean defender. Then, as he cut to the middle of the ice, he moved the puck to Farmer at the top of the circle, and Farmer found the top corner.

The score stayed the same until Pauls redirected a Taylor Chace (Hampton Falls, N.H.) shot past Team Korea goaltender Man-Gyun Yu to give Team USA a 2-0 advantage after one period.

Greg Shaw (Merritt Island, Fla.) increased the U.S. lead to 3-0 five minutes into the middle frame when he bounced a puck off Yu and into the net. Good pressure by Shaw and his linemates – Farmers and Pauls – led to a Korea turnover in the corner. Pauls worked the puck to the net and was stopped, but Shaw managed to convert on the rebound.

The United States added two more goals in the final period – one by Josh Sweeney (Phoenix, Ariz.) and the other by Farmer – to finish the scoring.

Jen Yung Lee (San Francisco, Calif.) recorded his second career shutout, stopping all five Team Korea shots. 

Team USA, which controlled play for long stretches in the contest, put 31 pucks on net and went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team will finish preliminary round play in the World Sledge Hockey Challenge Wednesday (Dec. 4) when it squares off with Canada at 8 p.m. ET.

Notes: Farmer was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... Follow all U.S. games during the World Sledge Hockey Challenge via Twitter by following @USAHockey and @USAHockeyScores, and join the conversation by using hashtag #WSHC2013 ... Eighteen players were named to the 2014 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team on July 24. Team USA's roster will be trimmed to 17 players by Jan. 1, 2014, to conform to the Paralympic Games roster limit … Nine players return from the 2010 U.S. squad that captured the gold medal at the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver, B.C., including goaltender Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.); defensemen Taylor Chace (Hampton Falls, N.H.), Nikko Landeros (Johnstown, Colo.), Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) and Andy Yohe (Bettendorf, Iowa); and forwards Taylor Lipsett (Plano, Texas), Adam Page (Lancaster, N.Y.), Alexi Salamone (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Greg Shaw (Merritt Island, Fla.). Cash, Chace, Lipsett, Salamone and Yohe also received bronze medals at the 2006 Paralympic Games in Torino, Italy … Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of sled and inline national teams for USA Hockey, is serving as the general manager of the 2014 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Jeff Sauer (Madison, Wis.) is the head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.), American Development Model regional manager for USA Hockey, is in his third season as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Due to rights restrictions, the championship game of the World Sledge Hockey Challenge is only available in Canada on TSN.

Team USA Schedule

Date  Opponent   Result
Dec. 1 Russia W, 2-1
Dec. 2 Korea W, 5-0
Dec. 4 Canada L, 1-4
Dec. 5 Russia
(Semifinals)
W, 4-1
Dec. 7 Canada
(Championship Game)
L, 1-3