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U.S. Defeats Korea, 8-0, in Final Paralympics Prelim Game

By USAHockey.com, 03/12/18, 10:30PM EDT

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Team USA advances to semifinals on Thursday (March 15)

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) tallied five points and Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) scored three times as the 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team beat host Korea, 8-0, in its final preliminary round game of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. With the win, the United States (3-0-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) advances to Thursday’s semifinal round, where it will face Italy. 

“There was a lot of energy in our locker room prior to the game and I knew we were ready,” said Guy Gosselin, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. “We came out and had a really good opening period where we used our speed and moved the puck effectively. Hopefully after a day off we’ll come back energized and play like we did in the first period in Thursday’s semifinal.”

Puck drop for Thursday’s semifinal game at Gangneung Hockey Centre is slated for 8 p.m. local time, making it a 7 a.m. ET start back in the United States.. Television coverage is to be determined, but the contest will be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com.

The U.S. opened the scoring 4:51 into the game when Roybal converted on the power play. With the Koreans called for too many men, Roybal took a pass from Farmer and fired a left-handed wrist shot over the glove of Korean goaltender, Yu Man Gyun.

Farmer doubled Team USA’s lead 1:49 later with his first goal of the game. The play started deep in Korea’s zone, where Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) dished the puck to Farmer who curled out of the corner and towards the top of the right circle for a shot that tucked under the crossbar.

Midway through the frame, Josh Misiewicz (La Grange, Ill.) scored back-to-back goals to push Team USA’s advantage to 4-0. His first goal came at the 8:09 mark when captain Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) sent him the puck just inside the right faceoff dot where he was able to tuck a shot under Gyun’s blocker. Misiewicz then connected again from the slot just 1:48 later when Kevin McKee (Chicago, Ill.) fed him a pass from behind the net that he one-timed for the score.

In the final two minutes, Farmer added a pair of shorthanded markers to complete the hat trick.

The first goal came when he chased down a clearing attempt from Roybal and beat Gyun with a low shot glove-side. With 1:32 remaining, Farmer connected again when Roybal dodged a Korean defender at the blue line and found Farmer streaking through the slot for a left-handed shot that snuck inside the far post.

The middle stanza saw both teams trade chances along with a pair of power play opportunities. Team USA’s best chance came off the stick of Landeros, whose long-ranged wrister was blockered aside. With neither team able to convert, the U.S. entered the third period with a commanding 6-0 lead.

In the final stanza, Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.) scored his third goal of the tournament 3:36 into the frame. The play started when Tyler Carron (Fort Collins, Colo.) skated down into the right corner and fired a pass through a trio of defenders that found Dodson to the right of the crease for the tap-in tally.

With 4:53 in the game, Roybal tallied his second goal of the game to account for the 8-0 final.

U.S. netminder Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) turned aside all three shots he faced for his second shutout in as many games. The win gives Cash 11 wins in 12 Paralympic starts, of which 10 have been by shutout.

NOTES: The U.S. outshot Korea, 24-4, went 2-for-6 on the power play and finished 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. For complete game statistics, click here Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) has a tournament best 13 points while he and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) are tied for first in goals with eight each. Roybal also ranks second in points with 11 … Deloitte, Labatt USA and Toyota are proud sponsors of the 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team … The 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team was announced on Jan. 1, 2018 … Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of sled national teams for USA Hockey, is serving as the general manager of the 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team … Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.), a two-time U.S. Olympian (1988, 1992) and USA Hockey’s regional manager of the American Development Model, is head coach of Team USA … USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for the U.S. Paralympic team.


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U.S. Paralympic Schedule

Date Opponent/Round Result Venue
Sun., March 11 Japan
Preliminary
W, 10-0 Gangneung Hockey Centre
Mon., March 12 Czech Republic
Preliminary
W, 10-0 Gangneung Hockey Centre
Tues., March 13 Korea
Preliminary
W, 8-0 Gangneung Hockey Centre
Thurs., March 15 Italy
Semifinals
W, 10-1 Gangneung Hockey Centre
Sun., March 18 Canada
Gold-Medal Game
W, 2-1 (OT) Gangneung Hockey Centre

2018 Paralympic News