The NA3HL’s top team in the Frontier Division, the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (23-8-2-1, 51 pts.) came to town to face the Great Falls Americans (20-10-1-1, 42 pts.), who entered the contest in second place in the division on Friday night in Great Falls.
Both teams each won two of their four matchups this season, including a Great Falls 3-1 home victory on October 24th.
The Wyoming-based Hawks, guided by head coach JJ Santagata, is led by Vincent Leaf, a forward from Des Moines, Iowa, who leads the team in goals scored (26), assists (30), and points (56) in 31 games this season. He is one of 14 returning players from last season’ squad.
A pair of forwards, Cooper Clouse and Ethan Miller, continue to pace head coach Greg Sears’ team this season. In 31 appearances, Clouse has 40 assists resulting in 55 total points, while Miller, who is second in total points (44), has registered 21 goals in 20 games after joining the Americans in October 2025.
The Americans are trying to distance themselves from their rivals, the Helena Bighorns (20-10-1-0), who trail the Americans by a single point (39) in the NA3HL Frontier Division standings with nine weeks remaining in the 2025-26 regular season. Could they get a third win over their Wyoming counterparts on home ice?
The Great Falls Americans led 2-0 after the first period and outscored the Sheridan (WY) Hawks, 2-1 over the final two periods for a 4-1 victory over the Frontier Division leaders during Friday’s NA3HL action at the Great Falls Ice Plex. Ethan Miller, Cooper Clouse, AJ Prioli, and newcomer Jordan Murray all scored one goal and dished out one assist apiece for the Americans’ 20th win of the season and tenth on home ice.
Great Falls needed 62 seconds to get their first score of the night. Ethan Miller, the team’s leading scorer, successfully got his 21st goal of the season with Tallon Caron and Americans assist leader, Cooper Clouse, adding the helpers. The Americans increased their lead (2-0) seven minutes later when newcomer Jordan Murray, who came over from the Yellowstone Quake, answered for his first goal in his first night with his new team. Fisher Hannesson and AJ Prioli gathered the assists. The Americans tallied 21 of the 34 shots-on-goal in the opening stanza.
Sheridan’s Jake Vukich got the visiting Hawks on the scoreboard in the middle period with Caden Gleason and Jeff Slivon setting up the first scoring drive for Wyoming. Vukich, who calls Rogers, Minnesota home, received his first goal with Sheridan in addition to his two goals when he was with the Granite City (MN) Lumberjacks to start the season. Great Falls scored their third goal before the second intermission when Tallon Caron and Gordon Jennings found a way to get the puck to Cooper Clouse, who put in his 15th lamplighter of the season with 49 seconds left.
In the final frame, the host team took advantage of Sheridan being in the sin bin midway through the period, and AJ Prioli, who earned the Frontier Division (3rd) Star of the Week for his play last week against the Butte Irish, sailed the puck over the Hawks netminder, Wyatt Knott, for the final goal of the contest. Jordan Murray and Ethan Miller each earned an assist after scoring in the first stanza.
Sheridan attempted 13 or more shots in each of the three regulation periods to finish with 48. Great Falls was held to 18 total shots in the final two periods after accruing 21 in the opening period.
Great Falls ended their fifth head-to-head meeting with Sheridan by going 1-for-2 on power play that resulted in six minutes spent off the ice. The Hawks could not convert their two power play opportunities.
Kaden Rhyder (10-4-0-1) won his third game in four opportunities against the Hawks by stopping 47 shots for his tenth overall victory of the season in the net for the Americans. Sheridan’s Wyatt Knott, playing in his first season for the Hawks, made 35 saves. The Minnesota goaltender fell for the second time to the Americans and saw his record fall to 5-4-0-0 in 11 appearances.
By Kevin Scott: January 9, 2026 – Great Falls, Mt
