United States wins gold medal at 2015 World Sledge Hockey Challenge

LEDUC, Alta. – The United States has won the gold medal at the 2015 World Sledge Hockey Challenge, beating Russia 2-1 in overtime in Saturday night’s gold medal game at the Leduc Recreation Centre.

It is the third time the U.S. has won gold at the tournament; it also took home the top prize in 2009 in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and 2012 in Calgary, Alta. It also claimed silver in November 2011 and 2013.

On Saturday night, Josh Pauls was the overtime hero, scoring 19 seconds into the extra period to give the Americans the gold medal. Kevin McKee had the other goal for the U.S., which held Russia to just three shots on goal in the final two periods, plus overtime. Ivan Berdnik was the lone goal scorer for the Russians, who appeared in the gold medal game at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge for the first time.

The U.S. finished first in the preliminary round with a perfect 3-0 record, including wins over Russia (3-2), Korea (8-1) and Canada (2-0). Canada came second at 2-1, followed by Russia (1-2) and Korea (0-3).

Earlier Saturday, Tyler McGregor (Forest, Ont.) finished with two goals and an assist, Derek Whitson (Chatham, Ont.) and Adam Dixon (Midland, Ont.) added a goal apiece and Dominic Larocque (Quebec City, Que.) made 11 saves for his first career win, helping Canada’s National Sledge Team to a 4-1 win over Korea in the bronze medal game.

The tournament is the last major international event before the 2015 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship, which will be held April 24-May 2 in Buffalo, N.Y.

For more information on the 2015 World Sledge Hockey Challenge, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wshc, and follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/worldsledge or www.twitter.com/hc_wshc.