CANADA FALLS TO U.S., EVENING SLEDGE DEVELOPMENT SERIES

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rob Armstrong (Mississauga, Ont./Mississauga Cruisers) and Mathieu Trudeau (Candiac, Que./Montreal Transat) scored goals, but Canada’s National Sledge Development Team dropped a 4-2 decision to the United States in the middle game of a three-game series Friday.

The U.S. victory evens the series at a win apiece; the Canadians earned a 1-0 shootout win in Thursday’s series opener.

After 50 minutes of goalless hockey one day earlier, both teams scored in the first period Friday; Vlad Lundquist opened the scoring for the Americans at 9:11, only to see Armstrong equalize for Canada just 3:48 later.

The second period was all U.S.; the Americans held a 12-3 advantage in shots on goal, and Chris Douglas and Josh Misiewicz pushed the U.S. lead to 3-1 after 30 minutes.

Trudeau got Canada back within a goal just 46 seconds into the final frame, but that would be as close as the Canadians would get. Lundquist’s second goal of the game with just seven seconds left capped the scoring.

Goaltenders Dustan Hamar and Bo Reichenbach made their first starts of the series for Canada and the U.S., respectively. Hamar turned aside 16 of the 20 shots he faced, while Reichenbach made 10 saves to record the win.

The series finale is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT at the Extreme Ice Center.