The #3 Great Falls Americans (16-9-1-0, 33 pts.), who are still sitting in third after their two road losses to the Bozeman Ice Dogs (4-3) and Helena Bighorns (3-1) last week, have achieved 15 victories, 9 regulation losses and one loss in overtime after 25 Frontier Division contests prior to Sunday’s first contest at the 2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament that features all 35 squads in the NA3HL along with many scouts.
The Helena Bighorns (23-2-0-0, 46 pts.) and the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (18-7-2-0, 38 pts.) are ahead of the Americans in the Frontier Division standings with less than three months remaining in the 2024-25 NA3HL regular season.
The annual league Showcase Tournament (December 15-17) occurs every December in Minnesota before the holiday break with all teams in the NA3HL playing against teams from other divisions (Central, East, Frontier, West and South( with matchups based (evenly) on their current division standings. Each team plays three games that DO count in the official NA3HL league standings with many NCAA, ACHA, and junior college scouts in attendance. Great Falls will be the designated road team in two of their three games. The Americans will be the road team for Sunday’s game against the Texas RoadRunners (7:30PM MST) and for Tuesday’s tournament finale against the New Mexico Ice Wolves (8:30AM MST). They will be the home team when they face the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings on Monday afternoon (2PM MST).
The Texas RoadRunners was the opponent for the Great Falls Americans on opening day of the NA3HL Showcase on Sunday night. The RoadRunners, based out of College Station, Texas, have eleven victories in 28 contests (11-14-2-0) including starting the season with a 7-1-0-0 record. Texas is currently in fifth place (out of eight teams) in the NA3HL’s South Division. Head Coach Mike Beavis’ squad is led by top scorer, Skylar Bawcom (20 goals, 37 points) and assist leader, Noble Cook with 18 assists. Third-year netminder, Jimmy Packee is 5-8-2-0 in 16 appearances with 482 saves and save percentage of 0.913.
Greg Sears, who is in his seventh season as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Americans, returns 13 players from the 2023-24 season. Ty O’Bey (19 goals, 19 assists), Zac Orwig (14 goals, 21 assists) and Garren Narvaez (8 goals, 25 assists) top the statistics list for Great Falls. Kaden Rhyder is the top goaltender with a 14-6-0-0 record (20 games) with 630 saves and a save percentage of 0.933.
The RoadRunners and Americans have never previously met on the ice prior to Sunday’s contest.
The Great Falls Americans edged the Texas RoadRunners 2-1 thanks to a third period score by Aiden Kennedy and goaltender Kaden Rhyder’s 24 saves during the first day of the j2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament at the NSC Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota on Sunday night.
Americans forward Cal Laggis put the Americans on the scoreboard first with his third goal of the season. Garren Narvaez, the Americans leading assist maker, was credited with his 25th assist and John Lang chipped in his 15th of the season. The RoadRunners put in the equalizer before the first period concluded. Carson Spear netted his tenth goal with Skylar Bawcom picking up his 17th assist.
In the second frame, Great Falls attempted 20 shots but could not get the puck in the net. Texas was held to five shots and no successful scoring drives.
Aiden Kennedy lit up the lamp 8:48 into the last period of regulation. Garrett Driscoll and Jurzy Allard set up the eventual game-winning score for the Americans.
Great Falls tallied 38 of the 63 shots-on-goal after creating 32 before the second intermission. Texas finished with 25 with 16 coming before the third period.
Both clubs committed nine total minor infractions and seven unanswered power play opportunities during their first meeting.
Kaden Rhyder continues to be successful in the net for the Americans. He Improved to 14-6-0-0 after redirecting 24 of the 25 shots sent by the RoadRunners. Jimmy Packee is now 5-8-2-0 on the year for the RaodRunners. He ended the first day of the tournament with 36 saves.
NEXT CONTEST: During the second day (of the three day) of the 2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament at the National Sports Center (NSC) Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota on Monday afternoon, Great Falls will play the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings at 2:00PM MST (3:00PM CST) on Monday, December 16th. The Mountain Kings currently have a record of 13-10-2-1 and are in fourth place in the eight-team East Division.
The Americans close out the tournament with Tuesday’s morning game (8:30AM MST) versus the New Mexico Ice Wolves.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE AT NA3HL SHOWCASE: Trey Pareja and Jason Hammett scored both goals to lift the Helena Bighorns (23-2-0-0, 1st in Frontier) to a 2-1 victory over the Wausau (WI) Cyclones (15-6-2-0, 2nd in Central) during the opening day of competition at the 2024 NA3HL Showcase. After a scoreless first stanza, Trey Pareja added his 14th goal with the Cyclones in the sin bin in the middle period. Wausau’s Landon Bechtolt evened the score four minutes into the third period. Two minutes later, Helena’s Jason Hammett scored the eventual game-winning goal. Branson Appelman (2-0-0-0) rejected 22 shots in the Bighorns win. Wausau’s Dereck Namlick (3-1-2-0) gathered 23 saves in his first regulation loss of the year.
Kaden Milles scored two goals and had one assist as the Minnesota Moose (10-15-3-0, 6th in West) earned a 5-1 win over the Badlands (SD) Sabres (14-10-3-2, 4th in Frontier) at the NA3HL Showcase. Each team scored once in the first period. Kaden Milles scored the first of his two goals for Minnesota 54 seconds into the contest. Charlie Lorbiecki scored with four minutes left in the first period off the stick of teammate Laurence Lundberg. The Moose scored twice in the second and third frames with Owen Meyer, Kaden Milles, Luke Steffen, and Reid Watson all scoring for Minnesota. Dylan Posch won his ninth game of the season (9-9-2-0) by recording 31 saves. Jackson Roethler finished with 28 saves but saw his record fall to 2-5-0-0 in nine appearances for the Sabres.
Lex Steckelberg scored in the first and third periods to carry the Bozeman Ice Dogs (14-9-1-1, 5th in Frontier) to a 5-3 decision over the Austin (TX) Ice Bats (16-9-1-1, 4th in South) at the 2024 NA3HL Showcase on Sunday afternoon. The Ice Dogs trailed 2-1 after two periods but outscored the Ice Bats 4-1 in the third frame to claim their 14th win of the season. Brett DeVincent (Bozeman) improved to 8-5-0-0 for the Ice Dogs. He finished with 29 saves. Bryson Frazee (4-3-0-1) played the first 52 minutes for Austin and acquired 12 saves in the loss. Gavin Morris had 3 saves in relief of Frazee.
The Texas Brahmas (21-3-2-0, 2nd in South) defeated the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (18-7-2-0, 2nd in Frontier), 4-3 on Sunday. The game was tied at 3-3 with under seven minutes remaining before Carter Kotrba put in the go-ahead (and eventual game-winning) goal with 6:17 left. Henry Griffin, Jake Malzone, and Zane Mazzola all scored for the Brahmas. Vincent Leaf scored the Hawks first goal in the middle stanza followed by Zach Longnecker and Elijah Farris scoring drives in the third period. Luke Romney (12-2-0-0), who was the winning goaltender for the Brahmas, added 34 saves to his resume. John Simon suffered his fourth loss (9-4-0-0) but still managed 31 saves.
The Gillette (WY) Wild (11-15-1-0, 7th in Frontier) took advantage of three power play opportunities to easily defeat the New Jersey Titans, 9-1 (8-14-2-0, 7th in East) on Sunday. Gillette scored eight of their goals after the first period. Max Arlt and Dylan Peterson accounted for four of Gillette’s scoring drives. Former Great Falls American Caleb Gamboa was also the recipient of goal during his first game in a Wild uniform. Nicholas Lampreht prevented the Titans from getting shutout with his third period lamplighter. Wylen Cambensy swatted 25 shots from the Titans offense for his first victory in three appearances (1-2-0-0) for the Wild. Meanwhile, Callahan Schultz fell to 3-5-2-0. Schultz played the first 33 minutes finishing with 19 saves. Backup Nicholas Gould (17 saves) allowed five goals in the loss.
The Tulsa Jr. Oilers (3-22-1-0, 8th in South) prevented the Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-28-1-0, 8th in Frontier) from getting their first victory by posting a 4-0 shutout on the first day of the tournament. Tulsa was led in scoring by Brayden Hagemann, Austin Tyler, Malachi Clark, and Miles Clark. Three of the four goals for the Oilers were made with the Quake in the penalty box. Jake Salverson earned his second win (2-8-0-0) of the season by stopping all 21 shots sent his way. Yellowstone’s Matthew Neeser (32 saves) was denied his first win (0-14-0-0).
The Butte Irish (12-13-1-0, 6th in Frontier) easily defeated the Maine Nordiques (10-15-1-0, 5th in East), 7-1 in the late game on Sunday evening. Genrikh Rozhkov scored Maine’s lone goal in the first period. The Irish offense compiled seven goals for their 12th victory. Dylin Harildstad (2 goals) and Weston Villers (2 goals) led the way for Butte. Manny Pantow is now 5-5-0-0 for the Irish. He accumulated 25 saves in 60 minutes of action. Maine goaltender Gabe Pomerleau dropped to 6-6-1-0 by ending the game with 18 saves. Ayden Linville made seven saves in the backup role for the Nordiques.
The Frontier Division went 5-3 after the first day of competition.
