HAMAR, Norway – Canada’s National Sledge Team will meet the Czech Republic for the bronze medal at the 2012 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship following a 2-1 loss to the United States in Thursday’s semifinal. Sunday’s bronze medal game (6:30 a.m. ET/3:30 a.m. PT) can be seen live via webcast at www.youtube.com/paralympicsporttv.

In Thursday’s early semifinal, Korea beat the Czech Republic 2-0 to advance to the gold medal game for the first time ever.

Canada has only faced the Czech Republic once in international competition, earning a 3-0 preliminary round victory at the 2009 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship.

On Thursday, Canada got a goal from Adam Dixon (Midland, Ont.) midway through the third period to pull to within a goal but the Canadians could get no closer, falling to the Americans in the semifinals for the second consecutive world championship despite outshooting their North American rivals 16-6, including 7-0 in the final period.

“We came here with the mindset of winning a world championship, so obviously we’re disappointed,” said Mike Mondin, head coach of Canada’s National Sledge Team. “But we’ve still got an opportunity to win a medal, and we’re going to make sure we’re ready for the Czechs on Sunday.”

Canada finished first in Group B during the preliminary round with a 3-0 record, including wins over Italy (3-1), Korea (2-0) and Norway (4-1).

In five appearances at the IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship, Canada has won two gold medals (2000, 2008) and two bronze medals (1996, 2009), finishing fourth in 2004.

For more information on Canada’s National Sledge Team and the 2012 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/sledgeteam or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada and www.twitter.com/hc_sledge.