NOTE: A Special Thanks to Michael Noel (above, https://mnoelphotography.smugmug.com) for providing the photos.
By Kevin Scott
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BUTTE, Mont., March 6, 2026 — The Butte Community Ice Center was the venue for the Great Falls Americans (29-14-2-1) and the Butte Irish (11-35-0-0) on Friday evening.
The Irish had their Billet Family Appreciation Night in their home finale with Saturday night in Great Falls being their final competition o fthe year while Great Falls will play in the Frontier Division Semi-Finals next week.
Jacob Avgustovskiy, who played high school hockey in Great Falls, scored two goals and dished out one assist as the Butte Irish came back from two goals down in the third period to down the Great Falls Americans, 4-3 in overtime during Friday’s NA3HL contest at the Butte Community Ice Center in Butte, Montana. Riley Hattan, Cooper Clouse and AJ Prioli each scored for Great Falls in their final regular season road game.
Jacob Avgustovskiy put Butte in front, 1-0 five minutes into the opening period with Andrew James and Zach Bucholt providing the assists for the home team. Seven minutes later, the Americans evened the score with a goal by Riley Hattan, who netted his second scoring drive of the season. Colton Bacon and EJ Sanchez earned helpers on the equalizer. Great Falls attempted three times as many shots (21-7) as Butte took throughout the first period.
Cooper Clouse scored midway through the middle period off a pass from AJ Prioli as the Americans went ahead, 2-1 while the Irish were down a man (penalty). Despite just one goal, Great Falls’ offense outshot the home team, 36-5.
After assisting on the lone second period scoring opportunity, AJ Prioli lit up the lamp with helpers coming from Brennan Pierce and Ethan Miller within the first 34 seconds of the third period. Butte trailed 3-1 for the next ten minutes before Bryce Hodges cut the deficit to 3-2 with the Americans in the penalty box. Andrew James collected his second assist and Jacob Avgustovskiy gathered his first assist. The Irish gave their home fans something to cheer about and tied the score at 3-3 with 2:05 left on a second tally by former Great Falls resident, Jacob Avgustovskiy. The game-tying goal that sent the contest into a five-minute extra period was assisted by Anthony Vande Hei and Keegan Adams as the Irish capitalized on another goal with the Americans in the penalty box.
The Americans and Irish were 16 seconds away from a shootout before Butte’s Keegan Adams scored the game-winning score with Jack Whitelaw and Andrew James creating the assists.
Great Falls held a 57-12 shots-on-goal advantage after two periods and finished the contests with 76. Butte took 14 of their game-high 30 shots in the third period.
The Irish connected on two of their four power play chances. The Americans scored on one power play chance in the middle stanza and had six other chances go unanswered.
It was Cole Murphy (Great Falls) and Mathieu Chernauckas (Butte) in the net for their respective hockey clubs. Chernauckas (8-18-0-0) got the best of Murphy (10-6-2-0) and ended the night with 73 saves. Murphy, who allowed four goals with three of them coming after the second period, created 26 saves in 64 minutes.
NOTES: The #1 Sheridan (WY) Hawks, #2 Helena Bighorns, #3 Great Falls Americans and the #4 Badlands (SD) Sabres all move on to postseason play after their Saturday contests. The Bozeman Ice Dogs, Gillette (WY) Wild, Yellowstone (WY) Quake and the Butte Irish will hang up skates for the season after they wrap up their season on Saturday evening.
The Sheridan Hawks will host the Badlands Sabres in one Frontier Division Semi-Final starting next week while the Bighorns and Americans will tangle in the other (semifinal) for a chance to move on to the Frontier Division Finals in two weeks. Helena will host Game 1 (7:05PM) on Friday, March 13th and Great Falls will entertain their rivals on Saturday night in Great Falls with the puck dropping at 7:05PM (MST) in Game 2 of the best-of-three series. Tickets for Game 2 are on sale on our website or can be purchased at the door. If a third game is necessary, the Bighorns will have home ice on Sunday, March 15th.
AMERICANS E-NEWSLETTERS: The Americans have two email newsletters for fans to receive in their inbox this season. Kevin Scott, the Americans Media Coordinator, has an Americans E-Newsletter that you can get on Sunday’s during the regular season filled with game summaries, press releases, links, schedule, etc. Click here to subscribe (if you haven’t already).
Americans Owner Matt Leaf creates and sends out a weekly email called “Baldy’s Puck Drop” that features team news, player profile, sponsor information and lots of other tidbits relating to Americans hockey that is published on Thursday mornings. Click here to receive the weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already).
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will meet the Butte Irish at the Great Falls Ice Plex in the regular season finale for both squads on Saturday, March 7th at 7:05PM (MST). The last game, which will honor the Billet (host) families with a ceremony on the ice, can be seen on NATV. The Americans season continues into the postseason, but Butte’s season will be completed after Saturday’s contest.
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom (1101 7th Street South) is the place to be after Friday and Saturday night home games where the Americans invite their fans and supporters to their post-game dinner.
Buffalo Wild Wings, located at 17 Northwest Bypass in Great Falls, hosts the “Americans Watch Party” this season when the Americans are on the road. Fans are invited to get food and drinks and watch the game.
NATV is the NA3HL’s new streaming platform and is the place to catch all the action for fans that are unable to attend the home and away games this season. Click here to learn more about how to view any of the Americans home and away contests.
For complete schedules/results, promotions, team stats, rosters and much more information, please go to our official website: www.greatfallsamericans.com