Fall River, Somerset teens come home with medals representing Team USA

Several Team USA age groups captured medals at the 2018 World Ball Hockey Championships in Slovakia.

Ball Hockey is similar to ice hockey only you don’t wear skates and you don’t play on ice.

According to the United States Dek Hockey Federation, several teams featuring local teens captured various medals. The U14 team, featuring Somerset’s Josh Pacheco, captured the silver medal. The U16 team, featuring Somerset’s Jonathan Pacheco and Fall River’s Zack Massa, captured the bronze medal with a 5-1 defeat of Team Europe. U18 also captured the Bronze medal. The U20 team, featuring Fall River’s Cole LaForce, captured the bronze medal in a shootout.

Cole, who is 17 and was playing with 20 year olds,  was instrumental in the bronze medal game. After being down 3-1, Team USA forced a shootout. Cole, who had scored previously in the tournament, scored the one and only goal in the shootout to secure the win against Team Czech . LaForce was voted the game’s top player along with securing the bronze medal.

We asked Cole about his thoughts on the tournament:

“Since I’ve been playing ball/ dek hockey, this has always been a dream of mine to play for Team USA. My experience in Slovakia was amazing, I met many good players from other teams and made lots of new friends from all over the world. While I was playing the games to hear the fans cheering my name was a feeling that I can’t explain. Scoring my first goal against team CZK was a great feeling, but scoring the game winning goal in an overtime shootout against team CZK for the Bronze Medal on Sunday July 1 and being named the best player of the game was the greatest feeling I have ever felt, hearing my name being yelled from the crowd, is a feeling I cant explain. It is something I will never forget. I want to say a great big thank you to my DAD for being there with me and for me, and to everyone else who supported me throughout this journey. A special thank you to my coach Kevin Cooley for taking a chance on a 16 year old kid last year when he first saw me play. I would also like to mention that this wouldn’t have been possible if my teammate Drew Albright didn’t score 2 goals against team CZK to bring us to a tied game, and a great job to our Team USA goalie Declan Moffatt for doing a phenomenal job making all the saves against team CZK in the shootout for securing the bronze medal for Team USA. Thank you to everyone for all the support on this amazing journey.”

If you are interested in learning more about the Fall River Dek Hockey Association, information and registration can be found here: Greater Fall River Dek Hockey

Photos taken by Aimee Poris unless specified.