It was Round 3 for the Great Falls Americans (10-6-1-1) and the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (13-5-0-1) when they tangled on the ice on Friday night in Wyoming’s Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center.
Both squads each took a regulation victory in their previous two matchups in October. The Hawks outscored the Americans, 7-1 on October 10th in Sheridan. Jameson Clark led both teams in scoring with two goals and Hawks netminder TJ Wonnacott redirected 28 of the 29 shots sent by Great Falls. Former Great Falls American Levi Mese produced the lone score for the visitors in the second period. In their Ocotober 24th encounter in Great Falls, three different scorers (Kiefer Lundmark, Jase Troyer and Tallon Caron) tallied goals after the first stanza in a 3-1 victory. Kaden Rhyder made 49 saves while Sheridan’s TJ Wonnacott took the loss with 28 saves.
Great Falls has won four straight games in the last two weeks. Would they be able to keep their win streak alive on Friday evening?
Ethan Miller (two goals, one assist) and Tallon Caron (1 goal, 2 assists) led the Great Falls Americans past the Sheridan (WY) Hawks on the road, 4-3 for their fifth consecutive win and tenth overall during Friday’s action on the ice at Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center in Sheridan, Wyoming.
In the opening period, Great Falls and Sheridan each produced two goals apiece during the first twenty minutes. EJ Sanchez scored the first goal for Great Falls with 5:56 left followed by Ethan Miller’s lamplighter two minutes later. Keifer Lundmark and Reid Lezubski set up the Americans first score by Sanchez. Tallon Caron and Cooper Clouse assisted on Miller’s successful scoring drive. Jeff Slivon and Kyle Rihela each scored as Elijah White and Dante Hunziker earned one assist apiece for the Hawks. Vincent Pica was the recipient of Rihela’s score with under one minute left in the period. The NA3HL rivals combined for 25 shots-on-goal before the first intermission.
Great Falls’ offense added two goals within the first seven minutes of the second period to take a 4-2 advantage over their Wyoming counterparts. Ethan Miller and Tallon Caron each scored and assisted on the pair of goals. Cooper Clouse and Bryce Webb also provided assistance. Despite allowing Sheridan to take 26 shots, Great Falls outscored their opponents in the middle period, 2-0 on 17 shots.
Great Falls held a 4-2 advantage to start the final period. The Hawks tacked on one final goal with 20 seconds remaining as the comeback rally was too late for the host team. Elijah White scored off a pass from Jameson Clark and Dante Hunziker.
Sheridan outshot Great Falls, 52-44 with 26 shots occurring in the middle stanza.
Ethan Miller’s first and second period goals along with Tallon Caron’s second period score occurred while the Hawks were in the penalty box. The visiting team scored on three of their seven power play chances while Sheridan was down a man. Sheridan went 1-for-5 with the lone successful power play coming on Jeff Slivon’s first period score.
Kaden Rhyder picked up his fourth win of the season by acquiring 49 saves to improve his record in the net to 4-2-1-0. Sheridan’s goalie Wyatt Knott (4-3-0-0) lost for the third time this season. Knott, hailing from Rogers, Minnesota, ended the night with 39 saves.
