By Kevin Scott
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GREAT FALLS, Mont., October 10, 2015 — The Great Falls Americans (5-2) suffered their first setback of the season on Friday night to the visiting Yellowstone Quake (3-2-1) by the score of 2-1. Yellowstone held Great Falls scoreless during the first and third periods of the NA3HL contest.
Previously, Great Falls had won two of their three meetings versus the Quake including two road wins.
For the second night in a row, the Great Falls Americans could not overcome the offensive attack by the visiting Yellowstone Quake. The Yellowstone NA3HL franchise won their third game of the season by downing the Great Falls franchise 2-1 as 610 fans watched the two Frontier Division squads perform on the ice in Great Falls.
Both teams played with high intensity throughout the first period but neither team found the back of the net. Yellowstone accumulated 14 shots on goal compared to Great Falls’ 10 before the first period concluded. Both teams failed to convert any of the three total power play opportunities.
The NA3HL team from Wyoming got the puck through Americans goaltender Lauren Massie near the net for the early 1-0 lead with 12:28 on the clock during the second period. Tony Dahlberg was credited with the goal while Minnesota natives Max Doner and Hunter Ruschmeyer each picked up an assist. The Quake would add one more goal before the second intermission as Hunter Ruschmeyer chipped in his first goal of the evening on a power play. Manuel Manero, a forward from Madrid, Spain, assisted on the scoring drive with 48 seconds remaining in the stanza.
Great Falls needed 58 game minutes before they put any points on the scoreboard. Austin Krantz netted the first goal for Great Falls in the final period. Assisting on the empty net scoring opportunity was Brendan Jester and Ricards Bernhards.
Both teams combined to rack up 33 minutes of penalty time including 15 infractions.
Despite the loss, the Americans took six more shots (50-44) than the Quake but managed just one goal in regulation.
Derrick LaCombe earned his second win in three attempts for the visitors from Cody, Wyoming and finished with 49 saves. Lauren Massie lost for the first time in four appearances and swatted away 42 of the 44 shots he faced in 58 minutes of action.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will travel to Billings, Montana on Friday, October 16th to face the Bulls beginning at 7:30PM at the Centennial Ice Arena in their only contest of the week.