GF Tribune: McSharry’s hat trick guides Americans to series win over Icedogs

Mar 17, 2019 | News, Uncategorized

By Lee Vernoy, Tribune Sports Writer

March 17, 2019

GREAT FALLS –You only turn 21 once, and Payton McSharry will remember his 21st birthday many years after Sunday night.

McSharry celebrated his birthday by scoring a hat trick in the second period, the first goal snapping a 1-1 deadlock and the rest propelling the Great Falls Americans to a thrilling 6-2 victory over the Bozeman Icedogs, to give the Americans a 2-1 series win in the first round of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League’s Frontier Division playoffs at the IcePlex on Gore Hill.

With the win, the Americans advanced to the best-of-three division championship series against the regular season champion Helena Bighorns beginning Thursday night in Helena.

A crowd announced at 247 fans helped McSharry – assisted by Jens Juliussen – celebrate his third goal at 18:26 of the second stanza by throwing hats onto the playing surface.

But he shrugged off being called a hero: “I would say that our hero is the team, honestly. It’s not really about one individual player, it’s about all four lines coming together and rolling over a team.

“That’s what we did there tonight.”

McSharry, who won the Americans’ Sam Williamson Trophy as the team’s top point-getter last year, again stressed the team concept when asked about that third goal.

“It just felt really good to do it for my team,” McSharry, a 6-2 southpaw from Alaska, said. “I was happy to have the crowd here tonight watching me especially on my birthday. It’s a crazy feeling.”

“There’s always something in sports that seems to (bring on) a little birthday magic, and we were hoping that might be the case today,” Americans head coach Greg Sears said. “Once he got the first one, you could tell he was feeling pretty good.”

McSharry’s first goal, off feeds from Cody Dearing and Juliussen, came at 8:17 of the second and broke a 1-1 tie, set up when Bozeman’s Jaxson Dodds scored off a Rhys Phelps assist on a power play less than a minute earlier.

Goal number two came off passes from Nate Simpson and Great Falls’ own Braxton Lorenz at 12:39, but the Icedogs’ Daniel Davis spoiled a natural hat trick when he converted passes from Phelps and Luke Hartage on a power play at 14:56.

McSharry’s performance helped make netminder Drew Scites’ job much easier.

“Big players show up at big games, and he is a big player, for sure,” Scites, who stopped 29 of the 31 shots he saw from entering his domain, said.

Still, Scites wasn’t going to call it a win just yet, invoking a oft-used quote from the late baseball legend Yogi Berra: “It’s not over until it’s over; anything can happen, especially in the playoffs … I’m not quitting until those 60 minutes are up.”

Luke Richesin scored the first Americans’ tally on a power play just 14:31 into the game, with McSharry and Brandon Peterson helping.

They added two insurance goals in the third; one when Dearing took passes from Juliussen and Peterson for his second goal of the postseason, the other when Brody Boyce cleared the puck from his own net and found the Icedogs’ goal, which goalie AJ Ruskowski had vacated just 12 seconds earlier to give his team another skater.

“Playoff hockey. Crazy, isn’t it? A crazy three days,” Sears added. “(The series with Helena) will be an unreal series. It’s the one everyone wanted to see.

“We battled all year against (the Bighorns), and it’s going to be some good hockey. Like we said the other day, there’s some good hockey in this Frontier Division, and it’ll be showcased this weekend. They have a lot of good players, we have a lot of good players. Something’s gotta give.”

Game one is Thursday night at 7:05 at the Helena Ice Arena. Game two is Friday night at 7:30 at the IcePlex on Gore Hill, with a third and deciding game, if necessary, back in Helena Saturday night

Bozeman 0 2 0 – 2

Great Falls 1 3 2 – 6

First period – 1. GF, Luke Richesin (Payton McSharry, Brandon Peterson), 14:31 (PP).

Second period – 2. BOZ, Jaxson Dodds (Rhys Phelps), 7:42 (PP). 3. GF, McSharry (Cody Dearing, Jens Juliussen), 8:17. 4. McSharry (Braxton Lorenz, Nate Simpson), 12:39. 5. BOZ, Daniel Davis (Phelps, Luke Hartage), 14:56 (PP). 6. GF, McSharry (Juliussen), 18:26.

Third period – 7. GF, Dearing (Juliussen, Peterson), 14:27. 8. GF, Brody Boyce, 19:05 (EN).

Shots on goal – BOZ, 10-15-6 – 31. GF, 11-19-21 – 51.

Power play opportunities – BOZ, 2 for 6. GF, 1 for 6.

Goalies/saves – BOZ, AJ Ruskowski (L), 45 saves, 50 shots. GF, Drew Scites (W), 29 saves, 31 shots.

T – 2:13. A – 247.

Story Courtesy: Great Falls Tribune: McSharry’s hat trick guides Americans to series win over IceDogs (March 17, 2019)