NOTE: A Special Thanks to Michael Noel (above, https://mnoelphotography.smugmug.com) for providing the photos.
By Kevin Scott
| Box Score |
Score Sheet | League Scoreboard | Americans Team Statistics |
GREAT FALLS, Mont., November 29, 2024 — The #3 Great Falls Americans (15-6-1-0) hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving as we get ready to resume the NA3HL regular season schedule before our winter break in late December.
After Saturday’s home date with the #2 Sheridan (WY) Hawks, we have road games against the Bozeman Ice Dogs (Dec. 6) and Helena Bighorns (Dec. 7) before the 2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament takes place for all teams in the NA3HL from December 15-17 from the NSC Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. The Showcase schedule is expected to be released on Wednesday, December 4th.
Friday’s opponent was the #2 Sheridan Hawks (15-6-2-0), currently four points out of first place over the #1 Helena Bighorns (19-2-0-0). Helena’s only two losses are from the Americans.
Great Falls and Sheridan have each played a two-game series in Great Falls and in Sheridan, Wyoming during September and October with each team claiming two victories apiece. In the first meeting in Great Falls on September 6th, the Hawks topped the Americans, 4-3 (game story) but Great Falls bounced back for a 3-1 win the following evening (game story). Great Falls traveled to Sheridan, Wyoming for a pair of Frontier Division contests on October 4-5, 2024. The Americans scored five goals and limited Sheridan to one in a 5-1 win on October 4th (game story) and then Sheridan downed the Montana squad, 4-2 on October 5th (game story).
After 21 games, Great Falls is led by Ty O’Bey, from Ashland, Wisconsin, who leads the team in goals scored (17) and total points (36). Garren Narvaez, a product of Phoenix, Arizona, is the team leader in assists with 24. Coach JJ Santagata’s Sheridan squad has received 26 goals and 46 points from Josh Serino, from Barrow, Alaska. First-year forward, Vincent Leaf, from Des Moines, Iowa is the Hawks top-assist leader with 25.
Would the home team move to 3-2 against the Hawks or would the Hawks get their third victory in five head-to-head meetings with Great Falls?
The #3 Great Falls Americans topped the #2 Sheridan (WY) Hawks, 3-2 on Friday night to record their 12th win inside the Great Falsl Ice Plex this season. Great Falls scored two of their three goals in the second period. Garren Narvaez, Masen Kerr and Aiden Kennedy scored for the Americans while Zac Orwig had two assists and goaltender Kaden Rhyder won his 13th game by redirecting 31 shots.
Gill’s Point S Tire and Auto was Friday’s sponsor of the intermission “Tricycle Races.”
The first twenty minutes ended in a 1-1 tie. Sheridan defenseman Elijah White got the scoring going first. The Alabama native scored his fifth goal 2:36 into the contest with Great Falls in the penalty box. Josh Serino received his 20th assist and Kiefer Dunham gathered his sixth assist for the early lead. Before the first intermission, the Americans tied the contest (1-1) with 4:58 on the clock. Garren Narvaez tacked on his sixth scoring drive as Zac Orwig and Fisher Hannesson created the assists for the first score for the host team. The Americans held a 21-11 shots-on-goal advantage.
The Montana squad outscored their Wyoming counterparts, 2-1 in the middle frame. Aiden Kennedy and Masen Kerr accounted for both goals for Great Falls. Ty O’Bey and John Lang accrued the assists on Kennedy’s power play score. Masen Kerr scored his first tally of the season off a pass from Garren Narvaez and Zac Orwig. Gavin Elliott recorded his fourth score of the year for the Hawks off the stick of Derrek Laite and Elijah White.
Each team produced ten shots apiece in the third but neither team up lit up the lamp.
Great Falls took 42 of their 52 total shots during the first two periods. Sheridan finished the night with 33.
The Americans committed two minor penalties in the first period and did not have any during the second and third periods. The Hawks had six minor penalties that resulted in twelve minutes in the sin bin.
Kaden Rhyder (13-5-0-0) continues to pile up the wins for Great Falls in the net. The Pennsylvania goaltender allowed one goal in each of the two periods to end the night with 31 saves. He is 3-2-0-0 against the Hawks this season with three more meetings in the regular season. Sheridan’s TJ Wonnacott dropped to 4-2-2-0 but not before providing 49 saves.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: Caden Fenstein, Trey Pareja, Kade Pareja, Austin Uecker, and Clint Isakson all scored to hand the #1 Helena Bighorns (19-2-0-0) another win by defeating the #7 Gillette (WY) Wild (9-13-1-0), 5-2 in Gillette, Wyoming on Friday night. Chase Hapka and Beau Delich put the puck in the net in the second period for the Wild. Tyler Miller won his seventh game (7-2-0-0) of the season by acquiring 26 saves for Helena. Tate Cothern (Gillette) fell for the sixth time this season (4-6-0-0) by swatting away 34 shots (Box Score).
Logan Nichols scored two goals in the first period for the winless #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-22-1-0) but the #6 Butte Irish (10-11-1-0) rallied to crush the Quake, 10-3 Butte’s Loghan Weber scored two of his three goals in the third period while teammates Easton Langemo and Bobby Anselmo each netted two goals apiece. The Irish made six of their goals in the middle stanza. Manny Pantow (Butte), who ended the game with 33 saves, improved to 4-5-0-0 on the season. Matthew Neeser (0-12-0-0) had another difficult night for the Quake by getting 66 saves in sixty minutes (Box Score).
The #4 Bozeman Ice Dogs (11-8-1-1) traded spots with the # 5 Badlands (SD) Sabres (10-9-2-2) in the NA3HL Frontier Division standings by earning a hard fought 4-3 win in a shootout at Haynes Pavilion in Bozeman, Montana on Friday evening. Six different scorers lit up the lamp in regulation including Bozeman’s Baron Masopust, Andrew Kaunas, and Spencer Wilkinson and Badlands Sabres players Charlie Lorbiecki, Patrick Gosselin, and Thayne Coston. After a scoreless five-minute overtime, the game went into a shootout. Bozeman’s Dan Upton was the only player from either squad to score in the shootout. Thanks to Dan Upton’s shootout goal, Bozeman netminder Brett DeVincent won his seventh game in 11 games (7-4-0-0) by getting 37 saves. Lochlin Jackson (30 saves) of the Sabres fell for the second time (4-2-1-2)in a shootout this season (Box Score).
NOTES: Read about all the Americans hockey action in print through the Great Falls Gazette, a newspaper that is published on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday each week with game recaps written by Kevin Scott, the Great Falls Americans Public Relations/Media Coordinator. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
The Americans are accepting non-perishable food items on behalf of the Great Falls Community Food Bank (GFCFB) for Friday and Saturday’s games (November 29-30). Fans that bring in a non-perishable food item to either game will receive $1.00 off the admission price. The GFCFB helps provide holiday meals to those in need.
On Thursday, November 21, the Great Falls Americans unloaded and set up Christmas Trees for the Great Falls Uptown Optimist Club for their annual Christmas Tree sale at Montana ExpoPark as part of their community involvement. For over 30 years, the local Optimist Club has collected over $20,000 that supports the Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, Alliance for Youth, and other activities that support children in the community. The Optimist Club will be selling their Christmas trees (all shapes and sizes) and Christmas Wreaths for the next several weeks. The hours of the tree sales are 9:00AM until 8:00PM daily until they are sold out.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Sunday, December 1: The Great Falls Americans will have their Christmas Party hosted by the Americans Booster Club.
Season Two of the “Americans Podcast with Jim Quick” premiered on September 5, 2024, with his first guest of the season, Cole Molaski, a forward from Suamico, Wisconsin, who is in his first season with Great Falls. Other players featured this season include Ty O’Bey, Easton and Aiden Kennedy, Sebe Perez, Mercer Twomey, Zac Orwig, Cal Laggis and Blayne Jusczak. Click here to learn more about Blayne Jusczak on the official podcast of the Great Falls Americans. Each podcast will feature one American player as we get to know the team this season. Jim completed 13 episodes during his first season. Fans can listen to the full podcasts from Seasons One and Two by clicking here.
560AM KMON Weekly Radio Interview with Coach Greg Sears: Join KMON Radio Sports Director “Baker Bob” McNamee every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings during the 2024-25 season with Great Falls Americans Head Coach and General Manager, Greg Sears as he talks about the Americans. The Weekly Radio interview on 560AM KMON in Great Falls can be heard locally every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings during the Hourly Sports Report (6:15AM (MST), 7:15AM (MST), and 8:15AM (MST) live. Click here to listen to the current and previous radio interviews.
AMERICANS PHOTOGRAPHER: Look for game photos from all of the home games from Michael Noel, the Americans Official Photographer by clicking here.
AMERICANS E-NEWSLETTERS: The Americans have two email newsletters for fans to receive in their inbox this season. Kevin Scott, the Americans Media Coordinator, has an Americans E-Newsletter that you can get on Sunday’s during the regular season filled with game summaries, press releases, links, schedule, etc. Click here to subscribe (if you haven’t already).
Americans Owner Matt Leaf creates and sends out a weekly email called “Baldy’s Puck Drop” that features team news, player profile, sponsor information and lots of other tidbits relating to Americans hockey that is published on Thursday mornings. Click here to receive the weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already).
NA3HL MOBILE APP: If you haven’t already, download the NA3HL App available at the App Store and Google Play. Fans can set your favorite team to the Great Falls Americans today and stay up to date with the NA3HL. Click here to download from the App Store (Apple) or click here to download from the Google Play Store (Android).
2024-25 PHOTOS: Check out all the Americans photos throughout the season including some taken by Americans photographer, Michael Noel and Gentle Thug Media’s Tim Ljunggren. Click here to view all the photos from the 2024-25 season.
AMERICANS TEAM STORE: Click here to view the Americans online team store that features a variety of different souvenirs to purchase. A store is available at all home games. AMERICANS GAME TICKETS ONLINE: Fans can also buy game day tickets on the website prior to the game by clicking here.
Please check out the Americans website at www.greatfallsamericans.com for all your updated news, game summaries, rosters, photo galleries, etc.
AMERICANS TEAM STORE: Click here to view the Americans online team store that features a variety of different souvenirs to purchase. A store is available at all home games. AMERICANS GAME TICKETS ONLINE: Fans can also buy game day tickets on the website prior to the game by clicking here.
Please check out the Americans website at www.greatfallsamericans.com for all your updated news, game summaries, rosters, photo galleries, etc.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans and Hawks will do battle for their sixth meeting (of eight total) and final time on home ice during the 2024-25 NA3HL regular season on Saturday, November 30th at 7:05PM (MST) live on NAHLTV. A reminder that Saturday’s game will be available to anyone (subscribers/non-subscribers) during the NAHL’s FREE PREVIEW Weekend. Click here to see the details.
P. Gibson’s Sports Grill and Casino (1600 Fox Farm Road) is the place to be after Friday and Saturday night home games where the Americans invite their fans and supporters to their post-game dinner.
Buffalo Wild Wings, located at 17 Northwest Bypass in Great Falls, hosts the “Americans Watch Party” this season when the Americans are on the road. Fans are invited to get food and drinks and watch the game.
NAHLTV is the NA3HL’s new streaming platform and is the place to catch all the action for fans that are unable to attend the home and away games this season. Click here to learn more about how to view any of the Americans home and away contests.
Click here for the 2024-25 Great Falls Americans schedule and results.