By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., October 4, 2014 — A night after the Great Falls Americans defeated the Gillette Wild 2-1 to hand the Gillette Wild their first loss of the season and kept the Americans undefeated, Great Falls was able to win another close NA3HL contest by posting a 3-1 victory over the Wyoming club. The Saturday night encounter was seen by 710 fans in attendance.
Both defenses came up big in the first twenty minutes of action as neither team registered any goals. Gillette had 5 shot attempts swatted away by Americans goalie Lauren Massie while Great Falls turned in 12 against Gillette’s Alex Feese.
Gillette’s Alex King added the game’s first goal six minutes into the middle period off the stick of Trent Dillinger and Dalton McCann. Alaska native Miles Giorgione helped tie the contest with his third goal of the season with assistance from teammates Michael Kliment and Erik Gatson. The Americans power play score came with 5:22 left in the period.
Hunter Garris, one of seven Alaska natives on the roster, gave the Americans their first lead of the night as Jonathan Carpenter and Wade Wylie chipped in the assists at the ten minute mark of the final period. Dylan Garton recorded an empty net and unassisted goal with 12 seconds left to ensure Great Falls’ fifth straight win.
Great Falls went 1-for -7 on power play opportunities with Miles Giorgione’s second period score the only power play the Americans converted on the night. Gillette failed to convert on their three attempts. Gillette could not stay out of the penalty box as the Wyoming NA3HL franchise accrued 26 minutes of penalties with 9 infractions. Three of Great Falls’ four penalties happened in the first period.
Lauren Massie concluded his night with 27 saves in 60 minutes of action for Great Falls. Meanwhile, Alex Feese finished up with 44 saves on 46 shot attempts.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans (5-0) will be on home ice for a two game series with the visiting Yellowstone Quake (1-4) on Friday, October 10th and Saturday, Oct. 11th at 7:30PM each night at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Gillette | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
First Period – NO SCORING
Second Period – 1, Gillette, Alex King (Trent Dillinger, Dalton McCann), 6:10. 2, Great Falls, Miles Giorgione (power play) (Michael Kliment, Erik Gatson), 14:38.
Third Period –3, Great Falls, Hunter Garris (Jonathan Carpenter, Wade Wylie),10:07. 4, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (empty net) (unassisted),19:48.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 47, Gillette 28.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 1-for-7, Gillette 0-for-3.
Attendance – 710
Box Score: Gillette @ Great Falls
Additional Media Coverage: October 4, 2014: Great Falls Tribune: Americans defeat Gillette