BRIDGEWATER, Nova Scotia — Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) had a hat trick, Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) recorded four points, and four other players had multi-point games as the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team defeated Korea, 8-1, here today at the 2016 World Sled Hockey Challenge.
“It was a good first effort,” said Jeff Sauer, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “We’ve got a lot of things we can work on, but it’s good to be back together for the start of a new season and I think the guys had fun today.”
Pauls opened the scoring 5:17 in the opening period by collecting a pass from Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) and sliding the puck past Korea’s goaltender, Man-Gyun Yu. Nikko Landeros (Johnstown, Colo.) doubled Team USA’s lead with a power-play goal at 13:26 but Korea tallied just :20 later to make it 2-1.
Farmer regained Team USA’s two-goal lead 1:58 into the second stanza when he collected the puck at the point from Landeros, skated to the hashmarks and fired a shot low left side. Farmer connected again seven minutes later to make it 4-1 when he finished off a passing play from Pauls and Billy Hanning (Festus, Mo.). Roybal scored with two minutes left in the period to give the U.S. a 5-1 lead.
Just :37 into the final frame, Farmer received a pass from Kevin McKee (Chicago, Ill.) and skated in alone before tucking the puck under the crossbar to complete his hat trick. Pauls tallied his second of the game four minutes later and Tyler Carron (Fort Collins, Colo.) fired a shot from the point 40 seconds to account for the 8-1 final.
Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.), who started the game, made three saves on four shots through 30:00 minutes. Bo Reichenbach (Billings, Mont.), in his first action with the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team, stopped all four shots he faced in the final 15 minutes of play.
The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team returns to action tomorrow (Jan. 18) when it faces Russia in its second game of the 2016 World Sled Hockey Challenge. Puck drop is set for 11 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on FASTHockey.com.
2016 World Sled Hockey Challenge • Team USA Schedule
Jan. 17-23 – Bridgewater, Nova Scotia – Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre
Date Opponent Time (ET)
Sun., Jan. 17 Korea W, 8-1
Mon., Jan. 18 Russia 11:00 a.m.
Wed., Jan. 20 Canada 6:00 p.m.
Thurs., Jan. 21 Semifinal 1:00 p.m.
Semifinal 6:00 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 23 Third-Place Game 12:00 p.m.
Championship Game 4:00 p.m.
Notes: Declan Farmer was named the U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Korea, 22-8 …. Six players had multi-point games, including Declan Farmer (3-0–3), Billy Hanning (0-2–2), Nikko Landeros (1-1—2), Kevin McKee (0-3–3), Josh Pauls (2-2—4) and Brody Roybal (1-2–3)… For a complete box score, click here … Follow @USAHockeyScores for in-game updates. Join the World Sled Hockey Challenge conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #WSHC.
