The #3 Great Falls Americans 10-5-0-0) played their sixth road contest this season as they made their way down Interstate 15 for the 155-mile trek to Butte, Montana on Saturday for their second encounter against the #6 Butte Irish (6-7-0-0).
Both squads met in Great Falls on Friday night for their first meeting this season. Great Falls was down 2-0 but found a way to score four straight goals to pull away for a 4-2 win. Ty O’Bey scored two third period goals and goaltender Kaden Rhyder stopped 24 shots. Dylin Harilstad and Loghan Weber scored for Butte while Manny Pantow took the loss for the visiting team.
The #3 Great Falls Americans and the Butte Irish were tied at 3-3 after two periods of NA3HL junior hockey action on Saturday but the Irish outscored the visitors 2-1 in the third period to deny the Americans the weekend sweep at the Butte Community Ice Center in Butte, Montana. Ty O’Bey (Great Falls) and Loghan Weber (Butte) scored two goals apiece for their respective squads.
After Saturday’s contest, Great Falls fares better at home with an 8-1 record but when they are away from the friendly confines of the Great Falls Ice Plex, they are 2-4-0-0 with one road victory at Bozeman (Ice Dogs) in September and one win at Sheridan (Hawks). Great Falls dropped to third place in the NA3HL Frontier Division standings after the #Sherdan (WY) Hawks (10-4-2-0) swept the #7Badlands (SD) Sabres (4-8-1-1), 4-2 on Saturday night.
The Americans answered first in the opening period as Aiden Kennedy and John Lang saw Ty O’Bey for the goal seven minutes into the game. Kazden Stineff off the stick of teammates Loghan Weber and Weston Villers even the score (1-1) less than two minutes later. Before the period concluded, Zachary Nimetz, a first-year player from Colorado, added his first lamplighter with helpers coming from Malloy Lomheim and Corbin Breen to give Butte the lead back before the first intermission.
During the following period, Sebe Perez and Ty O’Bey saw the puck go into the goal. Zac Orwig and Matt Beazley assisted on O’Bey scoring drive while Ty O’Bey and Aiden Kennedy set up the Perez score. Loghan Weber picked up his tenth goal with assists going to Andrew Browe and Kazden Stineff. Both Montana NA3HL foes were tied 3-3. The Irish led the Americans, 33-29 in the shots-on-goal category after forty minutes.
Loghan Weber tallied his eleventh score with 12:32 remaining in the contest to break the tie, 4-3. Andrew Browe claimed his second assist of the night and Keegan Adams added his third (assist). The 4-3 lead by the host team would remain until the final minute when each team buried the puck in the net. Easton Langemo increased the lead to 5-3 with Rocco Watson and Keegan Adams gathering the assists. Great Falls’ Blake Komrofske put the biscuit in the basket with 20 seconds to go but the comeback attempt was too late to overcome for the Americans. Easton Kennedy and Gavin Denis assisted on the final goal of the contest.
A total of nine goals were scored on 94 shot attempts in the second game of the series on Saturday.
Thanks to Sebe Perez and Ty O’Bey’s second period goals the Americans went 2-for-8 on the power play. They were whistled for five minor infractions. Great Falls’ defense prevented Butte from scoring while the Americans were in the sin bin five times. The home squad committed nine penalties.
Manny Pantow collected his first win versus Great Falls. The New Jersey native is now 2-3-0-0 after redirecting 44 shots for the Irish. He had 45 saves in Friday’s setback. The loss dropped Kaden Rhyder to 9-4-0-0 on the season for head coach Greg Sears’ team. He compiled 41 saves on Saturday after obtaining 24 in Friday’s victory.
