By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., November 29, 2013 — The Great Falls Americans had five different players score goals including a 3-0 shutout in the final period enroute to a 5-2 victory over the Bozeman Ice Dogs on Friday night in front of 802 joyful fans at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
Each team scored twice during the first and second periods to tie the AWHL contest at 2-2. Max Kaercher and Zachary Mese each put the puck in the back of the net for Great Falls. Bozeman’s Weston Blatter and Patrick Anaruk each connected on scoring opportunities for the Ice Dogs as they got the puck past Great Falls goaltender Erik Powell for their only points on the evening. Great Falls led 25-20 after 40 minutes of action in the shots on goal category.
Steven Goran’s pass to Dylan Garton for the go-ahead score two minutes into the third period put the Americans in front for the rest of the game. Marvin Simmons and Lucas Lomax would tally on the last two goals against the Bozeman defense. In addition to Steven Goran’s assist early in the final period, the Americans had help from Connor Barta, Cody Page, Johnathan Carpenter, Paul Sartuche, Aaron McInnis and Donovan Mattfeldt who recorded two assists for coach Jeff Heimel’s team.
Bozeman’s AWHL franchise (4-14-2) was led by Weston Blatter and Patrick Anaruk who each recorded a goal while Chase Engdahl and Jake Nelson assisted on the scoring plays for the Ice Dogs.
The Bozeman offense could not find ways to score against the Americans defensemen as Americans goalie Erik Powell stopped 30 out of the 32 shots that he faced all night.
Both teams combined for 1-for-6 on power play opportunities with Bozeman’s Patrick Anaruk connecting on the lone power play goal.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans (17-4) will face the Billings Bulls (7-12-1) on Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 7:30PM in Billings, MT.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Bozeman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
First Period – 1, Bozeman, Weston Blatter (unassisted), 8:10. 2, Great Falls, Max Kaercher (assisted by Connor Barta), 10:28.
Second Period – 3, Great Falls, Zachary Mese (Donovan Mattfeldt, Cody Page), 12:06. 4, Bozeman, Patrick Anaruk (power play) (Chase Engdahl, Jake Nelson), 17:34.
Third Period – 5, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (Steven Goran), 2:22. 6, Great Falls, Marvin Simmons (Donovan Mattfeldt, Johnathan Carpenter), 10:41. 7, Great Falls, Lucas Lomax (Aaron McInnis, Paul Sartuche), 11:07.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 47, Bozeman 32.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 0-for-2, Bozeman 1-for-4.
Attendance – 802