By Gary Anderson

Two of the most decorated players in US ice sledge hockey history have retired from international competition ©Getty Images Two of the United States' most decorated players, Andy Yohe and Taylor Lipsett, have announced they are retiring from international ice sledge hockey.

Both players were part of the US squad that retained the Paralympic gold medal at the Shayba Arena in Sochi during this year's Winter Paralympic Games, when Josh Sweeney scored the only goal of the game in their 1-0 victory over hosts Russia.

That was a second consecutive gold medal for both men and the second time Yohe captained the side to the Paralympic title.

Yohe joined the US squad in 2005 and his rookie season culminated in a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin.

After taking a year out, he returned to help the US win the 2009 International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, beating Norway in the final.

That was followed by the Paralympic title at Vancouver 2010, where Yohe captained the side all the way to victory, ending with a win over Japan in the gold medal decider.

The 35-year-old left the squad for three seasons for family reasons before returning to lead them to glory once again in Sochi.

Andy Yohe in action during the Sochi 2014 gold medal match where he led the United States to a second consecutive Paralympic title ©Getty Images Andy Yohe in action during the Sochi 2014 gold medal match where he led the United States to a second consecutive Paralympic title ©Getty Images



Lipsett has been part of the US national squad for more than 10 years after making his debut as a 16-year-old in the 2003-2004 season.

After collecting bronze in Turin and gold in Ostrava, Lipsett scored five goals en route to the Vancouver 2010 gold.

Lipsett led the scoring charts again in Hamar, Norway as the US retained their World Championship title, bagging six goals throughout the tournament, including a hat-trick in the 5-1 won over South Korea in the final.

Taylor Lipsett scored crucial goals for the United States as they claimed Paralympic and world titles ©Getty Images Taylor Lipsett scored crucial goals for the United States as they claimed Paralympic and world titles ©Getty Images



"It's bittersweet to see Taylor and Andy move on but I'm also extremely happy to have the ability to thank them for the tremendous contributions they have made to our team, USA Hockey, the United States Olympic Committee and their country," said Dan Brennan, general manager of the 2014 US Paralympic sledge hockey team and USA Hockey's director of sled and inline national teams.

"We've enjoyed great success together and they have Paralympic gold medals and World Championships gold as well and they should be extremely proud of that."

USA Hockey also announced that three other members of the 2014 Winter Paralympic squad, Taylor Chace, Rico Roman and Greg Shaw, are set to take a year out from competitive action.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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