Line Switches Result in American Victory

U.S. Coach Roy Sommer balked at being specific, but there was a distinctive difference in the way the United States skated against Canada Sunday night at Disney Ice in the biggest showdown so far of the International Ice Hockey Federation In-line Hockey World Championship.

To the delight of most of the flag-waving crowd of 1,050, whatever Sommer came up with worked. Former Bullfrog Joe Cook scored four goals, all on power plays, and former Oklahoma Coyote Joe Burton had a hat trick to lead the U.S. to a 9-6 victory.

Former Blade Chris Valicevic had six assists and Dave Shute had four. It was the 10th consecutive victory in international competition for the United States and it clinched the No. 1 seeding in the medal round, which begins Wednesday. Canada will be the second-seeded team, regardless of what happens today when Canada faces Russia at 4:30 p.m. and the United States skates against Finland at 7:30.

The United States took a 3-0 halftime lead on a pair of goals from Cook and one from Burton, as Sommer shook up the American lines. Sommer said he wanted to trap the Canadians in their zone before they had an opportunity to score several goals, as they had against three previous opponents. It worked. The tournament’s leading scorer, Blade Doug Ast, managed just a single assist.

Sacramento River Rat Gerry St. Cyr scored twice for Canada, but in the back of Sommer’s mind was the fact he didn’t want to show the Canadians everything he has up his sleeve. The teams are expected to meet in the gold medal game Friday at the Pond.

“We have a lot of respect for Canada,” said U.S. goaltender Joe Bonvie, who stopped 24 shots. “But I think the feeling is, this was just a preliminary game. I’m sure we’ll face them down the road.”

Canada cut the deficit to 3-2 midway through the third quarter. But the U.S. then outscored the Canadians, 5-1.

“This was a game that we really wanted,” said Bullfrog defenseman Joe McCarthy. “But there was a bit of a learning curve for us, too, and this was just one game.”

Czech Republic 15, Japan 2--The Czechs (4-0) will play Italy today, with the winner expected to be the sixth and final team in the medal round.

Austria 4, Italy 3--Austrian (2-2) goaltender Markus Kerschbaumer stopped 37 shots. Italy got within a goal with 1:21 left.

Russia 6, Switzerland 6--Russian Yuri Isaev tied the score with 9:03 left.

Australia 8, the Netherlands 8--Australia (2-2) battled back from a 5-2 deficit and took an 8-5 lead, but the Netherlands (2-2) rallied with three goals in the final 4:13.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

In-Line Hockey World Championship

GROUP A

Sunday’s results

Russia 6, Switzerland 6

Finland 9, Germany 5

United States 9, Canada 6

*--*

Standings W L T Pts GF GA United States 4 0 0 8 47 18 Canada 3 1 0 6 44 24 Finland 2 2 0 4 26 29 Switzerland 1 2 1 3 26 35 Russia 1 2 1 3 20 32 Germany 0 4 0 0 19 44

*--*

*

Today’s games at Disney Ice

Switzerland vs. Germany, 1:30

Russia vs. Canada, 4:30

Finland vs. United States, 7:30

GROUP B

Sunday’s results

Netherlands 8, Australia 8

Austria 4, Italy 3

Czech Republic 15, Japan 2

*--*

Standings W L T Pts GF GA Czech Republic 4 0 0 8 54 17 Italy 3 1 0 6 30 17 Austria 2 1 1 4 27 24 Australia 1 2 1 3 28 35 Netherlands 0 2 2 2 23 35 Japan 0 4 0 0 13 47

*--*

*

Today’s games at Disney Ice

Netherlands vs. Japan, 12:30

Australia vs. Austria, 3:30

Czech Republic vs. Italy, 6:30

All-day tickets, priced at $8 for adults and $4 for ages 12 and younger, are available at the Pond or through Ticketmaster at (714) 740-2000.