By Kevin Scott
| Box Score |
Score Sheet | League Scoreboard | Americans Team Statistics |
SHERIDAN, Wyo., October 4, 2024 — The third meeting took place on Friday night between the #2 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (6-2-1-0) and the #3 Great Falls Americans (5-3-0-0) inside the home arena of the Hawks.
The Americans and the Hawks each took a victory in the 2024-25 NA3HL season opener during the weekend of September 6-7th in Great Falls.
Sheridan topped the Americans, 4-3 on September 6th with Vincent Leaf leading the way for head coach JJ Santagata’s squad with two goals and one assist. A pair of Americans (Zac Orwig and Easton Kennedy) earned one goal and dished out one assist in the setback. Sheridan netminder John Simon made 32 saves while Americans goaltender Kaden Rhyder stopped 43 shots (game story).
Great Falls bounced back and defeated Sheridan, 3-1 on September 7th. Great Falls’ Ty O’Bey and Zac Orwig each scored in the first stanza while teammate Garren Narvaez added one in the middle period to take a 3-0 lead. Vincent Leaf lit up the lamp in the third frame to deny the Americans the shutout. Kaden Rhyder received his first victory by securing 36 saves. Ryan Rainey (28 saves) took the loss for the visitors (game story).
Great Falls was looking for their second road victory after defeating the Bozeman Ice Dogs on September 13th, 5-2 in Bozeman, Montana.
Great Falls Americans forward Zac Orwig scored a hat trick (three goals) and had one assist as the Great Falls Americans handed the Sheridan (WY) Hawks a 5-1 loss on Friday evening in Sheridan, Wyoming. Easton Kennedy and Garren Narvaez each contributed three assists for Great Falls.
The scoring came easily (and often) for the Americans during the first period. After Aiden Kennedy scored 31 seconds into the game off the stick of Easton Kennedy and newcomer John Lang tacked on his first goal in his first outing as an American, it was the Zac Orwig show.
Orwig, a returning forward from Hopkins, Minnesota, scored three consecutive goals throughout the first and second periods. He also added one assist. Easton Kennedy and Garren Narvaez assisted on three scoring chances while Ty O’Bey, Aiden Kennedy and Garrett Driscoll also helped set up the three scoring drives for the Americans.
The visiting Americans led 5-0 until the seven-minute mark when Sheridan’s Vlad Zubriichuk connected on his fifth goal of the season with assistance from Elijah Farris and Derrek Laite.
Despite nine shots-on-goal in the third frame from Great Falls and Sheridan, neither team was able to successfully find the back of the net.
Both squads combined for 81 shots-on-goal, seven infractions and 1-for-6 on the power play during the sixty-minute contest. The lone score by Vlad Zubriichuk of the Hawks in the third frame came while the Americans were in the penalty box.
Another victory was added to the resume of Americans netminder Kaden Rhyder, who now is 5-2-0-0 on the season. Rhyder finished with 39 saves. John Simon is now 2-1-0-0 including a September win against Great Falls. The Fargo, North Dakota netminder who spent parts of last season with the Hawks and Yellowstone (WY) Quake, had 36 saves.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: The #1 Helena Bighorns (7-1-0-0) bested the #4 Gillette (WY) Wild (4-4-1-0) on the road in Wyoming, 4-2. Austin Uecker, Brandon Mcilhany, Kade Pareja, and Jason Hammett all scored for the Bighorns. Max Arlt scored in the first period and Caleb Johannes added one in the second frame to account for the scoring for the Wild. Helena outshot Gillette, 42-16 with 17 shots occurring in the opening stanza. Malik Johnson remains perfect in the net for Helena (4-0-0-0). He stopped 14 shots on the night in his second season with the Bighorns. Tate Cothern recorded 38 saves and is now 2-2-0-0 after four games with the Wild (Box Score).
The Butte Irish (3-5-0-0), #7 in the eight team Frontier Division in the latest rankings, scored eleven times including five in the first period to easily claim an 11-2 victory over the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-9-0-0). Austin Langemo finished with a hat trick (3 goals) while Loghan Weber and Kazden Stineff provided two for the Irish. Travis Lindsey and Max Goulden each scored once in the final period for the Quake. Butte’s Tim Nanson has three wins in five games (3-2-0-0) and ended the contest with 19 saves. Meanwhile, Nicolas Ulyanov (0-3-0-0) and backup netminder Nate Whitson combined for 65 saves in the Quake’s ninth loss of the year (Box Score).
The #5 Bozeman Ice Dogs (4-2-0-0) needed a shootout to get by the visiting #6 Badlands (SD) Sabres (3-2-1-1) on Friday in Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman’s Andrew Kaunas and Lex Steckelberg and Ole Svangstu and Zack Vockler of Badlands all scored in regulation for their respective clubs. Neither team scored during the five-minute overtime. In the shootout, Tyler Klingbeil and Andrew Kaunas lit up the lamp for the Ice Dogs. Ole Svangstu was the lone scorer for the Sabres (Box Score).
NOTES: During the last week, Coach Greg Sears and the Americans added four new players to the team including forward John Lang (Fargo, ND), defenseman Matt Beazley (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) and goaltenders Patrick Forsythe (Balmertown, Ontario, Canada) and Karanveer Kooner from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The Great Falls Americans Booster Club is raffling off “RTIC’ Coolers with three different prizes.
FIRST PRIZE: 52 Quart Ultra-Light Wheeled Cooler with freezable divider, 30 can soft pack cooler, large ultra tough tote, (4) 30 oz. tumblers, and Meat Package from Central Avenue Meats.
SECOND PRIZE: 32 Quart Ultra-Light Wheeled Cooler with freezable divider, 20 can soft pack cooler, small ultra tough tote, (2) 30 oz. tumblers, and Meat Package from Central Avenue Meats.
THIRD PRIZE: 22 Quart Ultra-Light Wheeled Cooler, 12 can soft pack cooler, small ultra tough tote, (2) 30 oz. tumblers, and 10 lbs. of burger from Central Avenue Meats.
The drawing will be held at the October 25th home game against the Butte Irish and you don’t have to be present to win. All proceeds go to the Great Falls Americans hockey team.
Contact Adam Stanczak for tickets at 406-564-6771.
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, Aiden Kennedy and Sebe Perez. Click here to learn more about Sebe Perez 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.
Click here to view the other upcoming events for the Americans.
NEXT CONTEST: The Hawks and Americans will meet again on Saturday, October 5th when both teams conclude their two-game series at Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center in Sheridan, Wyoming that is set to begin at 7:30PM (MST). The action can be seen on NAHLTV.
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.
Additional Media Coverage: October 3, 2024: Baldy’s Puck Drop: Weekly Americans Newsletter by Team Owner, Matt Leaf, Volume 35. Click here to view the newsletter.
Additional Media Coverage: October 2, 2024: 560AM KMON: Weekly Radio Interview by KMON’s “Baker Bob” McNamee with Great Falls Americans Head Coach Greg Sears every week. Click here to listen to the full interviews.