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The Great Falls Americans (38-11-3) tried to make a comeback after being down by three goals but the West Michigan Wolves prevailed 3-1 on the first day of the NA3HL Silver Cup Hockey Tournament in Geneva, Illinois on Thursday night.

The Americans open the tournament with a matchup with the West Michigan Wolves at 4 in the afternoon on Thursday. The Wolves (31-15-1 in regular season) are the Central Division champions. Great Falls continues action Friday with a game vs. the Metro Jets at noon. The Jets (32-13-2) won the East Division. Heimel and Co. finish up with the North Iowa Bulls (37-9-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Bulls have won two consecutive Silver Cups and hoisted a national championship in 2013.

It’s fitting, the trip across the country for the Great Falls Americans, who are traveling to the Midwest for the 2015 North American 3 Hockey League Silver Cup Tournament, which starts Thursday.

The Great Falls Americans got goals from Cody Page and Zach Mese within a 73-second frame in the third period, and Lucas Lomax, Josh Larson and Erik Gatson added goals as the Americans went on to defeat the Helena Bighorns 6-2 to sweep the best 2-out-of-3 NA3HL Frontier Division championship Saturday at the Helena Ice Palace.

Great Falls scored five of their six goals in the third period to clinch the NA3HL’s Frontier Divisional Championship over the Bighorns 6-2 in front of a large crowd of 1,544 fans in attendance at the Helena Ice Arena. This was a rematch from last year’s Americans West Hockey League (AWHL) Championship Series in which the Bighorns swept the Americans 3-0 in the best-of-five tournament.

Lucas Lomax broke a third-period tie and goaltender Jordan Moran registered 39 saves as the Great Falls Americans defeated the Helena Bighorns 5-2 Friday night in Game 1 of the best-of-3 NA3HL championship playoff series at the IcePlex.

he Great Falls Americans and Helena Bighorns could do without each other's company.rnrn"We definitely don't like each other," Americans forward Cody Page said. "Not at all. Every game is physical. Every game gets chippy."rnrnThe two will tangle in the best-of-3 Frontier Division Finals series starting Friday, when the 1-seed Americans host the 2-seed Bighorns at the IcePlex at 7 in a rematch of last year's championship series in which Helena swept Great Falls.

Russia native Arseny Ivanov netted two goals to lift the Great Falls Americans to a 5-2 win over the visiting Helena Bighorns in Game 1 of the 2015 NA3HL Frontier Division Finals in Great Falls on Friday night. The first game of the best-of-three series was attended by 685 spectators at the Great Falls Ice Plex watching the rivalry.