After seven weeks of competition in the NA3HL’s 2025-26 junior hockey season, the Great Falls (Americans (5-6-1-1) has played five of their seven opponents in the NA3HL’s Frontier Division before Saturday’s game against the Gillette (WY) Wild.
The Americans have gathered wins over the Badlands (SD) Sabres and the Yellowstone (WY) Quake (both 2-1-0-0) and the Helena Bighorns (1-1-0-1) and are still searching for a win against the Bozeman Ice Dogs (0-2-0-0) and the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (0-1-0-0).
Gillette (5-4-1-0), under new head coach Wilson Anderle, has wins over Wyoming rivals, Sheridan (1-1-0-0) and Yellowstone (1-0-0-0), South Dakota foe, Badlands (1-1-1-0) and Bozeman (1-1-0-0) and fell to the Helena Bighorns (0-1-0-0) on October 4th. Due to arena availability, the Wild have played nine of their ten contest inside their home arena (Spirit Hall Ice Arena) with one road game in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Could Great Falls pick up their fourth road victory of the season?
The Gillette Wild topped the Great Falls Americans in overtime, 4-3, thanks to a goal from Riley Schmidt in the extra frame in their first matchup of the 2025-26 NA3HL season on Saturday night inside the Spirit Hall Ice Arena in Gillette, Wyoming. Cooper Clouse finished with one goal and one assist for the Americans.
Gillette and Great Falls could not find a way to score for the first 14 minutes of the opening period. Then the Wild’s Beau Delich answered with a wrist shot that went by Americans netminder Cole Murphy for the only score of the period. Dylan Peterson and CJ Lang helped the host team get on the scoreboard first. The Wild outshot the Americans, 11-9.
Michigan product Riley Hattan put the biscuit in the basket for his first goal as a member of the Americans nearly three minutes into the second period to even the score (1-1). Carson Sears and Kiefer Lundmark were each awarded the assists on Great Falls’ first goal of the game. Gillette’s Caleb Johannes answered for the Wild off a pass from Max Arlt and Riley Schmidt to put the Wyoming NA3HL team back in front (2-1) less than two minutes after the Americans scored. Tallon Caron took advantage of the Wild’s penalty kill and accured his sixth goal of the season with assistance coming from Cooper Clouse and Bryce Webb. That goal tied the game at 2-2 before the second intermission.
In the third stanza, Dominic Arndt scored his second goal of the year with helpers coming from Riley Schmidt and Brayden Waters to break the tie. The third scoring drive by Gillette occurred during the first 46 seconds of the period with the Americans down a man (penalty). The home team led 3-2 until the final two minutes, when Cooper Clouse put in the equalizer to send the contest into a five-minute overtime. Ethan Miller, who scored a hat trick and dished out two assists in his debut on Friday’s 6-2 win over the Badlands (SD) Sabres, earned his third assist, and teammate Gavin Denis registered his eighth assist on the game-tying play.
The game was decided in overtime when Riley Schmidt scored the game-winning tally that was set up by Max Arlt and CJ Lang.
Great Falls accounted for 32 of the 67 shots-on-goal in the 62 minute contest.
The Americans scored on one of their five power play opportunities while the host team failed to convert on their three chances.
Gillette goaltender Matthew Bennett improved his record to 2-1-0-0 by stopping 29 of the 32 shots from Great Falls. Cole Murphy (5-2-1-0) amassed 31 saves in 62 minutes of action in the net for Great Falls.
By Kevin Scott: October 18, 2025 – Gillette, Wy
