Medals piling up for Paralympic veterans

The U.S. sled hockey team will have a shot at a third straight Paralympic Games title after defeating Italy 10-1 in the semifinals Thursday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Italy’s goal was the first allowed by the U.S. in these games. The Americans cruised through the three round-robin games, defeating Japan, the Czech Republic and South Korea a combined 28-0. The U.S. will face Canada in the gold medal game; the Canadians have shut out every opponent thus far in South Korea, including a 7-0 win over South Korea in the other semifinal Thursday.

The U.S sled hockey team includes six veterans: Ralph DeQuebec (Marines; Denver.); Travis Dodson (Marines; Deming, N.M.); Jen Lee (Army; San Francisco); Luke McDermott (Marines; Westerlo, N.Y.); Josh Misiewicz (Marines; La Grange, Ill.); and Rico Roman (Army; Portland, Ore.). They’re part of a number of veterans representing the U.S. at the Paralympic Games.

It’s been a successful games for those veterans.

Dan Cnossen (Navy; Topeka, Kan.) has four podium finishes in as many events so far, including a gold medal in the men’s sitting biathlon. He won silver in the men’s sitting 12k and men’s sitting middle-distance biathlon and added a bronze in the men’s sitting sprint.

Joining Cnossen on the podium after the middle-distance and sprint events was Army veteran Andy Soule (Kerrville, Texas), who won bronze in the middle distance and gold in the sprint.

Soule, who won bronze in the 2.4k pursuit biathlon in the 2010 games in Vancouver said winning his first gold medal was “incredible.”

“I couldn’t do it without incredible teammates pushing me all the time, and without incredible coaching and technical staff. I think it speaks to a great team effort that has really paid off for us,” Soule said in a press release.

Soule also was eighth in the men’s sitting biathlon and 11th in the men’s sitting 12k. Both Cnossen and Soule will have chances at more medals in events coming up Friday and Saturday.

Here’s how the other U.S. Paralympic athletes have fared so far in Pyeongchang:

Alpine skiing

Kevin Burton (Navy; Erie, Colo.) and guide Brandon Powell-Ashby (Marines; Boulder, Colo.): 6th, visually impaired super combined; 7th, visually impaired downhill; 9th, visually impaired super-G.

Josh Elliott (Marines; Yakima, Wash.): 6th, men’s sitting super combined.

Cross country skiing

Sean Halstead (Air Force; Rathdrum, Idaho): 14th, men’s sitting middle-distance biathlon; 22nd, men’s sitting 12k.

Bryan Price (Army; Leeton, Mo.): 16th, men’s sitting middle-distance biathlon; 20th, men’s sitting biathlon.

Jeremy Wagner (Army; Nanakuli, Hawaii): 19th, men’s sitting biathlon.

Snowboarding

Jimmy Sides (Marines; Silverthorne, Colo.): 15th, men’s UL.

Michael Spivey (Marines; Abilene, Texas): 18th, men’s UL.

Curling

The U.S. wheelchair curling team, which includes Army veteran Kirk Black (San Antonio, Texas) and former Army basketball player Steve Emt (Hebron, Conn.) failed to advance to the medal round after posting a 2-9 record in the round-robin.

The games continue through Sunday. Click here for updated daily schedules.