By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., October 26, 2013 — The Great Falls Americans Junior A hockey team faced their toughest opponent so far this season as the Helena Bighorns invaded the Great Falls Ice Plex on Saturday night in the battle of the top two teams in the American West Hockey League.
The 825 fans in attendance were hoping the Americans would remain undefeated with their eleventh victory of the season but Helena had other plans. The Helena Bighorns, whose only loss of the season was to Yellowstone, capitalized on some key possessions to hand the Americans their first loss of the season, 7-1.
After Brian Skillicorn’s scored first for Helena, Parker Olson added two more scores in the first period as Helena built a 3-0 lead over Great Falls after the first twenty minutes of action. Helena goalie Alek Lazarski stopped 18 Great Falls shots on goal while the Americans blocked four of seven attempts on goal.
The momentum carried over to the second period for the Bighorns with a goal by Theo Campe 45 seconds into the middle period. Sebastian Hansson and Jacob Wolter received the assists. Dylan Webster chipped in the second goal for Helena before Campe recorded his second and final goal of the night with 11:13 left. After assisting on two previous goals, Sebastian Hansson found the back of the net with 3:34 on the clock. Dylan Garton’s goal for Great Falls with 53.8 seconds to go put the Americans in the scoring column for the first time and helped them avoid a shutout in the AWHL game. Donovan Mattfeldt and Austin Krantz recorded the only assists for the Americans. It turned out to be the final points of the evening for both teams as neither team scored in the final period.
In the second and third periods, the Americans were held to just 17 total shots on goal while the Bighorns had 37.
Helena was led by Parker Olson and Theo Campe with two goals apiece along with three assists by Nick Okada. Both Great Falls goaltenders (Evan Hauser and Erik Powell) combined for 48 saves in the AWHL showdown.
Despite the loss, the Great Falls Americans still remain in first place in the league with a 10-1 record. Helena improves to 9-1 on the season under former Americans coach Scott Cunningham, who led the team from 1999-2002.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will head to Helena, MT to challenge the Helena Bighorns at 7:30PM at the Helena Ice Arena on Friday, November 1st.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Helena | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
First Period – 1, Helena, Brian Skillicorn (assists by Theo Campe), 6:39. 2, Helena, Parker Olson (power play) (Ryan Webber, Austin Buckholtz), 11:03. 3, Helena, Parker Olson (Nick Okada, Logan Henne), 14:57.
Second Period – 4, Helena, Theo Campe (Sebastian Hansson, Jacob Wolter), 0:45. 5, Helena, Dylan Webster (power play) (Jacob Wolter, Sebastian Hansson), 5:58. 6, Helena, Theo Campe (Damon Hanson, Nick Okada), 8:47. 7, Helena, Sebastian Hansson (Dylan Webster, Nick Okada), 16:26. 8, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (Donovan Mattfeldt, Austin Krantz), 19:06.
Third Period – NO GOALS SCORED.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 24, Helena 55.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 0-7, Helena 2-for-5.
Attendance – 825
Box Score: Helena @ Great Falls
| Final | Great Falls Iceplex Sat, Oct 26, 2013 7:30 PM MST |
 Helena 7 |
 Great Falls 1 |
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