Nationals roughed up on opening weekend

The Glacier Nationals of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League got their season underway this past weekend, but, unfortunately, they had to open their season against one of the best teams in the Frontier Division.

For years, the Great Falls Americans have been among the top teams in the Frontier and this past weekend, they announced themselves as contenders once again, with a pair of impressive wins over Glacier. The two teams met Friday in Great Falls to open the season and the Americans used a relentless offensive effort to knock off the Nationals 11-0. The two teams met again Saturday in Havre, and the result was very similar, as the Americans won by a score of 9-0.

After falling by 11 on Friday, the Nationals were much more competitive in their home debut, but still fell behind 2-0 after the first period, following goals by Kody Thomas and Danny O’Donnell of the Americans. In the second period, Great Falls extended its lead even further, as goals from Matt Janke, Sandis Mezharaups and Dustin Truex pushed the lead to 5-0 with 20 minutes left to play.

In the third, the Nationals were able to muster some decent chances on goal, but were still unable to find the net, while Great Falls scored four more times to put the final margin at 9-0.

“We were competitive,” Nationals general manager Butch Kowalka said. “But we gave up a bunch of late goals when we took some penalties.”

Friday in Great Falls, in the first meeting, Great Falls jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. The Americans added three goals in the second and third periods and outshot the Nationals 59-6 on their way to the win.

In all, nine different Great Falls players found the back of net. Matt Larson and Brendan Jester each led the way with two goals apiece, as the Americans got off to a 2-0 start on the season.

The Nationals (0-2) will be back in action this weekend, when they will host Gillette in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night inside the Havre Ice Dome.