By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., September 26, 2014 — After an 8-2 opening weekend victory over the Glacier Nationals last Saturday in Havre, Montana, the Americans were happy to be back on home ice in front of a nice crowd of 710 who witnessed the Americans skating away with a 7-0 shutout win over the Bozeman Ice Dogs on Friday night at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
The first 600 fans were treated to a FREE Howard’s Pizza puck with the game schedule on it as well as FREE Big Mac coupons from McDonalds for their “You win, we win” promotion.
The Great Falls fans watched three goals go by the Bozeman goalie in the opening period. Miles Giorgione, an Anchorage, Alaska native, picked up his first goal as an Americans player off the stick of Robert Kalata and Lucas Lomax in the first two minutes of action. Great Falls native Dylan Garton scored unassisted ten minutes later to give the Americans a two goal lead. Zach Mese chipped in the third score for coach Jeff Heimel’s squad. Devin Panzeca and Marvin Simmons were each credited with the assists on the final score of the period.
The Americans defense held Bozeman scoreless during the second period. Great Falls received two goals with Lucas Lomax and Wade Wylie tacking on points. Wade Wylie and Lucas Stover created the assists on Lucas Lomax goal with 11:23 on the clock while Connor Barta and Roberta Kalata collected the assists on Wylie’s first goal of the evening. Great Falls also had more shots on goal (21-17) than the Ice Dogs after the first forty minutes of ice time.
Devin Panzeca took it all the way from one end to the other to give the Americans their sixth goal in their home debut. The puck went by Bozeman goalie Cody Smargiassi at the 13:35 mark of the final period. Hunter Garris registered the final goal of the evening off a power play opportunity with assistance from Miles Giorgione and Adam Apangalook.
Veteran Evan Hauser finished the contest with 21 saves and stopped all the shots that the Bozeman offense attempted. Bozeman’s Jake Murphy ended with 35 saves. Great Falls doubled the shot attempts (42-21) that they put up against both of Bozeman’s goaltenders (Jake Murphy and Cody Smargiassi). Great Falls only scored on one of their eight power play attempts.
After a win last weekend against Glacier, the Americans are now 2-0 while Bozeman picks up their first loss and are now 1-1.
The Americans were led by four players who each tallied a goal and an assist including Giorgione, Lomax, Panzeca and Wylie.
Both teams combined for 90 minutes of penalty time on 25 infractions.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will face the Billings Bulls on Saturday, September 27th in Billings, MT. Action begins from the Centennial Ice Arena at 7:30PM.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Bozeman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First Period – 1, Great Falls, Miles Giorgione (Robert Kalata, Lucas Lomax), 2:08. 2, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (short-handed) (unassisted), 12:32. 3, Great Falls, Zack Mese (Devin Panzeca, Marvin Simmons), 15:00.
Second Period – 4, Great Falls, Lucas Lomax (Wade Wylie, Lucas Stover), 8:37. 5, Great Falls, Wade Wylie (Robert Kalata, Connor Barta), 10:39.
Third Period – 6, Great Falls, Devin Panzeca (unassisted), 6:25. 7, Great Falls, Hunter Garris (power play) (Miles Giorgione, Adam Apangalook), 13:43.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 42, Bozeman 21.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 1-for-7, Bozeman 0-for-10.
Attendance – 710
Box Score: Bozeman @ Great Falls
Additional Media Coverage: September 26, 2014: Great Falls Tribune: Americans make home debut
Additional Media Coverage: September 27, 2014: Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls Americans blast past Bozeman