Team USA Defeats China, 7-1, as Farmer Breaks Paralympic Point Record

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Team USA Defeats China, 7-1, as Farmer Breaks Paralympic Point Record

U.S. advances to semifinal Friday (March 13) at 9:35 a.m. ET

MILAN – Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) tallied his 54th-career Paralympic point, a new all-time record, as the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team defeated China, 7-1, in its final preliminary round contest of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

The U.S. closes the preliminary round atop Group A with a perfect record of 3-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L), outscoring opponents, 34-2. Team USA advances to the semifinal round and will take the ice Friday (March 13) at 2:35 p.m. CET (9:35 a.m. ET) against the second-place team from Group B. The game will be broadcast on USA Network and streamed on Peacock.

“I really liked the effort today and how we stepped up to the challenge,” said David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.), head coach of the 2026 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. “China skates very well, but we played steady and wore them down throughout the game. Now, we focus on Friday’s semifinal and work toward our ultimate goal.”

Team USA applied pressure throughout much of the first period, but did not break the scoreless tie until captain Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) wristed a shot from the right faceoff circle home at 12:46 of the opening period.

Farmer registered his 54th-career Paralympic point to secure the all-time record with a power-play goal in the dying moments of the period, roofing a backhand shot over the shoulder of Chinese netminder Yanzhao Ji to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead.

Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) added a third U.S. tally, his first goal of the tournament, at 2:22 of the middle frame, ripping a shot past Ji from the slot after a centering feed from Evan Nichols (Haymarket, Va.) on the power play.

Farmer scored Team USA’s first even-strength goal of the game at 5:24, stickhandling past numerous defenders before wristing a shot underneath the Chinese goaltender from the slot to give his team a four-goal advantage.

U.S. netminder Jen Lee (Daly City, Calif.) kept China off the scoresheet with a strong blocker save with 4:01 to play. Moments later, Roybal added his second power-play tally of the contest, lifting the puck over the glove of Ji to extend the U.S. lead to 5-0 at 11:16.

Liam Cunningham (River Falls, Wis.) scored his first career Paralympic goal with 1:22 left in the middle frame, firing a shot from the right faceoff circle through Ji on the power play, putting the U.S. up by six.

Farmer completed a hat trick 59 seconds into the third as he ripped the puck away from a Chinese defender near the crease and slid the puck home to give the U.S. a 7-0 advantage.

Zhanfu Zhu scored at 4:28 of the third, firing a shot from the point that found the back of the net to account for the 7-1 final.

Lee made eight saves in the victory.

Notes: Team USA outshot China, 31-9 … The U.S. went 5-9 on the power play while China went 0-3.

For more information contact Seamus Kelley (seamus.kelley@usahockey.org/781.267.9907)