The Great Falls Americans (25-14-4-2), currently ranked #3 in the eight-team Frontier Division in the NA3HL, are 3-0 with one meeting remaining against the Rapid City, South Dakota based Badlands Sabres (23-15-4-3) this season.
Great Falls took the first two meetings at the Great Falls Ice Plex, 3-1 and 4-1 and on Friday, they met their South Dakota rivals at the Roosevelt Park Ice Arena where the Americans behind a two-goal effort from Aiden Kennedy sparked Great Falls to a 4-0 win.
The visiting Great Falls Americans trailed 2-0 after two periods before their offense got going and scored four third period goals to lift the Americans past the #4 Badlands Sabres, 4-2 in their series finale at the Roosevelt Park Ice Arena in Rapid City, South Dakota on Saturday. Americans standout Ty O’Bey led the way with two goals.
Both squads opened the first period by taking nine shots as Sabres forward Keenan Howard added his second goal of the season midway through the stanza. Ryan Hipsag and Jaden Flor helped provide the first goal of the contest.
Ryan Jordan, one of twelve returners from the 2023-24 season, sailed the puck by Americans goalie Kaden Rhyder for the two-goal advantage 7:45 into the middle frame. Dawson Wirth and Zach Vockler provided the assistance for Badlands. The Sabres’ second scoring drive came while the Americans were down a man (penalty).
However, the Americans would not be shutout and scored four goals during a 16-minute span. Ty O’Bey scored two goals while John Lang, Sebe Perez, and Aiden Kennedy created two assists each. John Lang and Aiden Kennedy also put in lamplighters.
The Americans third period was the key to the game as they attempted half of their shots-on-goal (17) during that time to finish with 34. Badlands second period provided 15 of their 30 total shots but only one goal was successful.
Ty O’Bey’s two goals in the final frame occurred while the Sabres were in the penalty box, and they ended the game by going 2-for-4 on the power play. They had six minors resulting in 12 minutes spent off the ice. The Sabres went 1-for-3 thanks to Ryan Jordan’s second period tally. The host team finished with seven minor infractions.
Kaden Rhyder made 28 saves on Saturday after making 31 in Friday’s 4-0 shutout win over Badlands. The Pennsylvania goaltender is now 21-10-2-0 after earning four season victories when facing the Sabres offense this year. Lochlin Jackson (7-5-2-2) got the start for Brooks Mitzel’s squad and was flawless the first two periods before giving up the goals in the final period.
NEXT CONTEST: There is just two weeks remaining in the 2024-25 NA3HL junior hockey season and next weekend (February 28 – March 1) the Great Falls American have a bye. They will next be in action on Friday, March 7th when they make their final road trip to Butte, Montana to challenge the Butte Irish at 7:30PM (MST) followed by their last home date against the Irish on Saturday, March 8 with the puck dropping at 7:05PM (MST). Both games can be seen live on NAHLTV, the NA3HL’s official streaming service. This will be Billett Family Appreciation Night where the host families will be greeted on the ice during one of the intermissions with their player(s) they host.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: The #1 Helena Bighorns (38-3-1-1) went 2-0 this weekend against their rivals, the #5 Bozeman Ice Dogs (24-17-1-1). After winning on Friday 7-1, the Bighorns needed three goals in the first and third periods to lift them to another victory. Hunter Coulombe scored two goals, and one assist to lead the Bighorns to a 6-1 win on Saturday. Finn Theriault, Ty Schell, Maddux Hale, and Marcus Fritel also scored for the host squad. Helena went 2-for-7 on the power play but Bozeman failed on their nine power play chances. Devin Bruns scored the lone goal in the first period for the Ice Dogs. Helena’s Branson Appelman was excellent in the net, stopping 29 of 30 shots to improve his record to 12-1-0-0. Brett DeVincent (15-10-0-0) was kept busy by the Bighorns offense as he collected 53 saves.
Bobby Anselmo’s three goals (hat trick) paced the #6 Butte Irish (19-22-1-3) to a 7-4 road victory over the #7 Gillette (WY) Wild (18-26-1-0) in Gillette, Wyoming on Saturday night. Butte also won 4-3 on Friday against the Wild. In addition to Anselmo’s goals, Kazen Stineff, Rocco Watson, Loghan Weber, and Easton Langemo also lit up the lamp. Gillette received two goals from Dante Hunziker in the first and second periods and Rocco Corl and Riley Schmidt answered in the third period. Five of Helena’s goals came via the power play. Logan Hunter (3-4-0-1) accounted for 39 saves as the netminder for the Irish. Austin Trieber and Wylen Cambensy both saw action in the goal for the Wild. Trieber is now 5-10-0-0 on the year as he compiled 17 saves in 51 minutes of action.
The #2 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (27-13-2-1) allowed one goal from their opponent, the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (1-41-1-0) as they led 3-1 after two periods and finished with a 6-1 victory in Cody, Wyoming. Vincent Leaf scored twice while Vlad Zubriichuk, Daniel Shelden, Cody Hogan, and Josh Serino accounted for the rest of the goals for the Hawks. Yellowstone’s Max Goulden prevented the shutout with his second period score. TJ Wonnacott (22 saves) is now 10-3-2-1 in 16 appearances with Sheridan. Chase Ebeyer made 51 saves on Saturday and is currently 6-11-0-0 overall after starting the season with the Binghamton Buzz and is currently 0-8-0-0 with the Quake.
