Milano Cortina 2026 Group A Review: USA and China book semifinal spots

China booked their second Paralympic semifinal appearance in as many Games after defeating hosts Italy 11-1 in front of a lively home crowd at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Monday morning (9 March), day two of Para ice hockey at Milano Cortina 2026.

The Beijing 2022 bronze medallists will now face defending champions United States on Tuesday (10) to decide the first place in Group A ahead of Friday's semifinals. 

Italy, meanwhile, will have little time to regroup as they open Tuesday’s programme against Germany.
Veteran defender Andrea Macri said the team must improve after another difficult second period, similar to their opening‑day performance against the United States.

“It was a terrible period. I don’t know what happened and we need to understand what it was, because it looks like it happened against USA,” Macri said. “We know the value of our opponents, but this is not what we prepared for in the last three years. It is not showing the sacrifices that we make as a movement.”

The Azzurri once again enjoyed strong support from the home fans, who created an electric atmosphere in the arena. Macri believes the team owes them more.

“We know we can do better than this. We have this incredible opportunity to play in front of our crowd – the kids, the schools, the families – and [these results] are not what we want to give them.”

Jintao Tian recorded his second consecutive hat-trick, already doubling his total from the entire Beijing 2022 Paralympics. Even he admitted he is surprised by his scoring surge.

“It was something that happened only recently,” Tian said. “I don’t know what changed, I’ve always trained hard. But I am really happy with it.”

Italy held China off the scoreboard for 12:22 and through 10 shots before Zhi Lyu threaded a perfect pass to Tian, who finished with the back of his stick.

The hosts responded just 45 seconds later when goaltender Wei Jang’s rebound fell to Sandro Kalegaris, who circled behind the net and set up Nikko Landeros for the equaliser, sending the crowd wild.

In their second game at @milanocortina26, China had a tough start against Italy, with the score tied 1–1 after the first period. From there, China took full control. 🏒🇨🇳

Schedule, results & stats: https://t.co/shYvaS3ae9 pic.twitter.com/RXqRtWBWn1

— Para Ice Hockey (@paraicehockey) March 9, 2026

China, however, took full control in the second period, scoring three times in under two minutes to make it 4-1, then adding three more to take a 7-1 lead into the intermission.

The standout of the frame was Yifeng Shen, who led all scorers with five points. Three of his four assists came in that period – first to Dianpeng Qiu (3-1), then twice to Tian (5-1 and 6-1). Zhidong Wang added two goals of his own, and Shen capped the period with a composed finish, sliding the puck past Santino Stillitano just before it crossed the goal line.

Juijiang Wang opened the third‑period scoring with a power‑play goal at 1:46, before Xiaodong Song and Zhidong Wang extended the lead to 10-1. Hongguang Li closed the scoresheet with another power‑play marker in the final 32 seconds.

Stillitano made 20 saves and Julian Kasslatter added eight for Italy, while Wang stopped seven shots for China.

China will face the USA on Tuesday to close out Group A action at Milano Cortina 2026.

USA 13-0 Germany

The United States joined China in booking their Group A ticket to the Milano Cortina 2026 semifinals with a commanding 13-0 win over Germany on Monday (9 March) at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

USA’s all time scoring leader Declan Farmer added four more goals to his remarkable career total, including a hat trick just 6:31 into the game – needing less than two seconds to score the opener. He finished with seven points to lead all players.

“I've been working hard for a long time, never settling for where the sport is at,” Farmer said, already looking ahead to Tuesday’s preliminary round finale against China.

“It feels excellent. That's what we're here for, climbing towards the next round. I think we really want to keep the momentum going against China. They’re a much faster team, they can make you pay with their offence. We've got to be ready.”

Another showdown for @usahockey: 13–0 over Germany! 🇺🇸🏒

Where to watch: https://t.co/3HgyfRFkhU
Schedule, results & stats: https://t.co/shYvaS3ae9 pic.twitter.com/dOottX5RFJ

— Para Ice Hockey (@paraicehockey) March 9, 2026

David Eustace also recorded a hat trick, scoring twice in the first period (4-0 and 5-0), before Kayden Beasley made it 6-0 with 28 seconds left in the frame.

Germany held the USA off the board for the first 3:10 of the second period, but Brett Bolton, Jack Wallace and Eustace – completing his hat trick – struck three times in 1:11 to push the Paralympic champions to a 9-0 lead. Farmer added his fourth of the night before Bolton made it 11-0.

German goaltender Veit Muehlhans made 28 saves, half of them in the third period, but could not prevent Beasley from adding his second at 2:44. Wallace closed the scoring with an unassisted effort to make it 13-0.

“We possessed the puck really well. Personally, I think I definitely had a better game. We all want to continue to progress and have our best game as our last game,” Wallace said.

German defender Ingo Kuhli Lauenstein said his team could still take positives from facing the world’s top ranked side.

“I think we didn't crack mentally under the relentless pressure of the tournament’s favourite. We’ve tried to keep going as best as possible. There was not a lot we could have done. We better pay attention to the lesson they are teaching us.”

Germany will close their preliminary round campaign against hosts Italy in Tuesday’s opening game (10 March).

The complete Para ice hockey schedule, results and stats from Milano Cortina 2026 can be found here.