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U.S. Tops Slovakia, 8-1, in Inline Worlds Opener

By USAHockey.com, 06/25/17, 12:15PM EDT

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Combs Nets Four Goals in U.S. Victory

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia –  Jack Combs (St. Louis, Mo.) netted four goals and nine different players registered a point as the U.S. National Inline Team topped Slovakia, 8-1, in the opening game of the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Inline World Championship.

''I'm excited and pleased with our start to the tournament," said Joe Cook, head coach of the 2017 U.S. National Inline Team. "After 10 training days together the chemistry of the team really showed tonight in a solid win over Slovakia.'' 

Game recap continues after the jump

Game Highlights

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Combs opened the scoring for Team USA with 1:04 remaining in the opening period.

Travis Noe (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Combs converted :54 apart in the first 1:51 of the second frame to extend the U.S. advantage to 3-0. Matt White (Whittier, Calif.) and Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y.) scored at 8:43 and 9:07 of the stanza to give Team USA a 5-0 lead after two periods.

Slovakia got on the board 3:29 into the third period before Combs completed the hat trick 4:02 later. John Schiavo (East Patchogue, N.Y.) tallied with 2:43 left in the frame to make it 7-1 in favor of the U.S. entering the final stanza.

Combs scored his fourth goal of the game and final tally of the game 1:36 into the fourth period to make the final 8-1.

Jerry Kuhn (Southgate, Mich.) made nine saves while earning the victory in goal for the U.S. 

Team USA returns to action tomorrow (June 26) against Canada at 8 a.m. ET. A live stream of that contest will be available here.

NOTES: For complete game stats, click here …  The U.S. has medaled in all but five of the 19 IIHF Inline World Championships previously staged, including six gold medals (1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013), four silver medals (1998, 2001, 2009, 2011) and four bronze medals (2000, 2003, 2005, 2014). There was no tournament held in 1999 or 2016.

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Team USA Schedule

Date Opponent TIme (Local/ET)/Result Location Live Stream
Sun., June 25 Slovakia W, 8-1 Ondrej Nepala Arena IIHF
Mon., June 26 Canada W, 8-2 Ondrej Nepala Arena IIHF
Tues., June 27 Croatia W, 8-2 Ondrej Nepala Arena IIHF
Thurs., June 29 Germany
Quarterfinals
W, 4-1 Ondrej Nepala Arena IIHF
Fri., June 30 Czech Republic
Semifinals
W, 5-4 Ondrej Nepala Arena IIHF
Sat., July 1 Finland
Gold-Medal Game
W, 4-2 Ondrej Nepala Arena IIHF

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Team USA's Hilary Knight, in the navy blue jersey, looks back toward her teammates on the ice.

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