The Great Falls Americans (18-10-1-1) and the Butte Irish (8-21-0-0) are fresh off their Christmas break and their annual trip to Blaine, Minnesota, for December’s NA3HL Showcase Tournament. Great Falls and Butte each went 1-2-0-0 at the prestigious tournament, where many college scouts were in attendance. Great Falls won their opener at the Minnesota tournament by claiming a 4-3 win over the Austin (TX) Ice Bats before falling in their final two games to the Alexandria (MN) Blizzard, 4-1, and then suffered a 4-2 setback to the Mason City (IA) Toros to conclude the tournament. Meanwhile, the Irish struggled with a pair of losses to the Peoria (IL) Mustangs (5-2) and the Minnesota Wilderness (9-2) but managed a 3-1 win over the Carolina (SC) Rage.
Both squads met in Butte, Montana, for two games in November, where Great Falls came up on the winning side in both appearances. Great Falls won 7-3 on November 14th and then downed the Irish, 4-3 on November 29th. In their first meeting, the Americans raced out to a 6-2 lead before the second intermission, and each team scored once in the third. Ethan Miller finished with a hat trick (3 goals), and teammate Reid Lezubski ended the game with two goals for Great Falls. In their previous meeting on November 29th, the game was closer as the Americans and Irish each scored three goals after two periods, but it was Gordon Jennings lamplighter in the third that was the difference maker.
Wednesday was the first head-to-head meeting of the season in Great Falls between these two Montana junior hockey opponents as both teams looked to put another win in the NA3HL Frontier Division standings on New Year’s Eve.
AJ Prioli scored all three of his goals during the second period, and Cooper Clouse assisted on four of the six goals for the Americans as they easily defeated the Butte Irish, 6-2, on New Year’s Eve at the Great Falls Ice Plex. Loghan Weber scored both goals, and Easton Langemo and Bryce Hodges assisted on both goals for the Irish.
Ethan Miller broke the scoreless tie seven minutes into the first period to give the Americans the early 1-0 lead. AJ Prioli collected his 13th assist while Cooper Clouse, the Americans team leader in assists, made his 32nd of the season for head coach Greg Sears’ second place Frontier Division team. Both squads combined for 28 shots-on-goal and no penalties.
After trailing the Americans in the first stanza, the Irish evened the score (1-1) with eleven minutes left into the second period when Easton Langemo and Bryce Hodges found Loghan Weber, who put the puck between the pipes while the Americans were in the sin bin. Great Falls regained the lead back from Butte five minutes later. AJ Prioli drove down the lane and put the puck in the net for his ninth goal. Ethan Miller and Cooper Clouse provided the assists on the Americans second scoring drive of the game. Prioli was just getting started offensively as the Massachusetts forward scored two more goals in 29 seconds to earn the hat trick. Ethan Miller and Cooper Clouse recorded two more assists as Great Falls took a 4-1 advantage over their Montana rivals.
In the third frame, Butte’s Loghan Weber scored his second goal of the game with assistance from Easton Langemo and Bryce Hodges to cut the deficit to 4-2 with 8:29 remaining in regulation. The Irish scored their second goal with the Americans down a man (penalty). Two minutes later, Great Falls scored their fifth goal on a lamplighter by Jaxen Savage, who tallied his sixth goal. Tallon Caron and Wyatt Rust picked up the assists. After Butte took out their goaltender (Blake Drost) to add another offensive player, Great Falls took advantage and connected on an empty net score with two minutes remaining. Jase Troyer and Keegan Hanson each tacked on their third assist when Wyatt Hanna buried the puck in the open net.
Great Falls outshot Butte in the first two periods to finish with 48. Butte made 22 of their 33 shots before the second intermission.
Butte went 2-for-4 on the power play by scoring both goals with Great Falls in the penalty box after the first period. The Americans could not find a way to score on their only power play chance.
The Americans offense went through AJ Prioli (three goals, one assist), Ethan Miller (one goal, three assists), and Cooper Clouse (four assists) to help the host team get their 18th win in 30 contests. Butte, coached by Marc Brodeur, received two goals from Loghan Weber and two assists apiece from Easton Langemo and Bryce Hodges.
Kaden Rhyder (8-4-0-1) played all sixty minutes and prevented 31 of the 33 shots he faced from getting by him for the home team. He is now 2-0-0-0 against Butte this season. Boise, Idaho, goaltender Blake Drost (43 saves) is now 0-4-0-0 in five games with the Irish.
By Kevin Scott: December 31, 2025 – Great Falls, Mt
