NOTE: A Special Thanks to Great Falls Americans Facebook for providing the photos.
By Kevin Scott
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RAPID CITY, S.D.., October 17, 2025 — When the Great Falls Americans (5-6-0-1) and the Badlands (SD) Sabres (5-4-1-1) met during the second weekend of the 2025-26 NA3HL season last month in Great Falls, each team recorded a win at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
Wyatt Pink and Patrick Gosselin made successful scoring drives in the 2-0 blanking over the Americans on September 12th. Jackson Roethler made 37 saves while Kaden Rhyder (26 saves) made his season debut with the home team in the loss. The Americans offense played better in their second meeting on September 13th and needed a shootout to pick up their first victory. The 4-3 win was highlighted with scoring drives from EJ Sanchez and Tallon Caron in the first period and a game tying score by Cooper Clouse in the the third that sent it to overtime (where neither squad lit up the lamp) but Jase Troyer converted his goal over Badlands netminder Gavin Peery in the one-on-one shootout for the win.
Badlands currently sits in fourth place in the NA3HL Frontier DIvision standings and has won two of their seven contests since their weekend series against Great Falls. Great Falls is one spot below the Sabres in the current NA3HL standings and is 4-3-0-1 since the second weekend of competition.
Ethan Miller, playing in his first game with the Americans, scored three goals and made two assists and Cooper Clouse scored twice and dished out two assists to lead the Great Falls Americans to a convincing 6-2 win over the Badlands Sabres during Friday’s junior hockey game inside the Roosevelt Park Ice Arena in Rapid City, South Dakota. Goaltender Cole Murphy finished with 30 saves for Great Falls.
Cooper Clouse and Tallon Caron provided the visiting Montana team a 2-0 advantage with their goals coming during the first ten minutes of the first period. Clouse’s score occurred during the first 25 seconds of the game while Caron tacked on another goal with 9:35 left before the first intermission. Ethan Miller, Gavin Denis, Jaxen Savage and Bryce Webb each earned assists for the visiting team. The Sabres cut the lead in half when Logan Salo and Sawyer Vann found Everett Horrocks open for the lamplighter with four minutes remaining. Both NA3HL opponents combined for 27 shots.
After the first intermission, Americans forward Cooper Clouse scored his second goal of the night. Gordon Jennings picked up his third assist of the season while Ethan Miller added his second assist. Dayton Niedert put the puck between the pipes for the Sabres. Newcomer Ethan Miller recorded his first score set up by Gordon Jannings and Bryce Webb as Great Falls maintained a two-goal advantage (4-2) prior to the second intermission. The penalty-free stanza saw each squad attempt 12 shots-on-goal.
Americans forward Ethan Miller, who made his debut tonight with Great Falls after seeing time last season with the NA3HL’s Binghamton (NY) Buzz, scored not one but two third period goals for Great Falls during a span of nine minutes. Gavin Denis and Cooper Clouse both added assists on Miller’s talliies.
In addition to Ethan Miller’s three goals (two assists) and Cooper Clouse’s two goals (two assists), Gavin Denis earned three assists while Gordon Jennings, Bryce Webb and Cooper Clouse each tallied two assists. Everett Horrocks and Dayton Niedert scored in the first and second periods, respectively for the Sabres.
The Americans outshot the Sabres, 39-32 with 28 shots coming prior to the third period.
Cole Murphy has been the winning goaltender for the Americans in their five victories. The Minnesota native is now 5-2-0-0 and prevented 30 of 32 shots from getting by him. Parker Kelly (1-1-0-0), who was credited with the win in Badlands’ 4-0 win over the Gillette Wild on September 20th, fell in his second outing. He accumulated 33 saves in the loss.
NOTES: The 3rd Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend will be coming up on October 24th and 25th when the Americans play host to the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (Friday) and the Yellowstone (WY) Quake (Saturday). The Americans, along with Benefis Health and the Sletten Cancer Institute, support “Think Pink for the Girls” where the ice at the Great Falls Ice Plex is painted pink and the players will wear special edition pink jerseys on both nights. There will be an opportunity for fans to purchase a framed team photo signed by the team wearing their pink jerseys through the DASH activation. We will also have a “#1Fan” special edition jersey auction as well. Click here to view the auction.
The Americans Booster Club is raffling off a Remote Controlled Zamboni Cooler with the ticket drawn at the October 25th contest against the Yellowstone (WY) Quake. Tickets are $10.00 each. Click here for more information. To purchase tickets, please see any of the Booster Club members at any of the home games or contact Adam Stanczak (406-564-6771).
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 make their first trip to Gillette, Wyoming for a showdown on the ice against the Gillette Wild on Saturday, October 18th starting at 7:05PM (MST) live on NATV from Spirit Hall Ice Arena.
The Americans will play host to the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (October 24th) and the Yellowstone (Cody, WY) Quake (October 25th) with the puck dropping at 7:05PM (MST) from the Great Falls Ice Plex.
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