Sheridan Hawks Hockey Team Splits Vs. Great Falls; Prepares For Road Trip To Defending Champ Helena

The Sheridan Hawks split weekend home games vs. Great Falls this past weekend, and an even bigger test is on the horizon this weekend.

The team lost on Friday 5-1, as the opposition scored 32 seconds into the game and kept the momentum for good.

On Saturday, the Hawks recovered to win 4-2

Head Coach J.J. Santagata called Friday’s game an embarrassing and horrible performance, but was pleased with how the team recovered.

Sheridan is currently 7-3 on the season and the team is back on the road this weekend, for a 2-game series at Helena.

The Bighorns are currently 9-1 and not only are they the defending Frontier Division Champs, they are also the defending Frasier Cup Champs, which is what teams in the NA3HL play for.

Santagata explains what the Hawks are in for.

“They’re a very structured team. They’re very detailed, they do things very well, they’re really good in the dot, they’re good on faceoffs, they’re good in transition, so I’m expecting a team that’s going to be able to transition on us quickly and in the offensive zones, they get bodies at the net, they have a lot of pressure at the net, so they’re going to be an extremely heavy physical team, so just expecting any other type of game that we’re going to play, just a team that’s skilled and can play heavy, so it’s going to be a test.”

The puck drops at 7:05pm on both Friday and Saturday.

Hawks vs. Great Falls Weekend Recap: (Courtesy Sheridan Hawks)

It was the Hawks Hockey Fights Cancer weekend at the Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center in Sheridan, with the fans filling the rink with pink and the Sheridan players sporting some pretty cool old school pink jerseys and socks. 

Not only were the Hawks raising awareness and funds for the Welch Cancer Center, they gave the crowd a couple nights of truly exciting hockey.

The Sheridan Hawks fell to the Great Falls Americans 5-1 on Friday night.

Aiden Kennedy of the Americans opened the scoring 32 seconds into the game, and three more Great Falls goals added to their lead later in the first. 

Two of those goals came from Zach Orwig had an incredible night, scoring another at the start of the 2nd for a hat trick, pushing the Americans to a 5-0 lead. 

After a disappointing start though the Hawks came on stronger with a goal when Vlad Zubriichuk found the back of the net later on in the second period with assists from Elijah Farris and Derrek Laite. 

The third period was scoreless with both teams playing hard but in the end Great Falls secured the win.

Saturday was a different story, with Sheridan owning the first two periods. 

The Hawks opened the scoring in the first period with goals by Drake Dunphy assisted by Kadin Edwards and Elijah White, followed by Josh Serino goal with help from Zach Longnecker. 

In the 2nd Elijah Farris added to the Hawks tally assisted by Longnecker and White, and Sheridan entered the third with a 3-0 lead.

Great Falls fought from behind though and made a game of things in the third, but it simply was not enough to overcome the Sheridan team.

The Americans mounted a comeback with two goals to cut the deficit to one.

However, in an exciting finish Josh Serino scored his second goal of the game, an unassisted empty netter with less than a minute left on the clock, to cement the win for Sheridan. Hawks. 

Sheridan goalie John Simon had 54 saves on the 56 shots he faced in the net.

The Hawks are on the road the next two weekends. 

Next weekend the Frontier Division #2 ranked Hawks travel to Helena, MT to take on the Bighorns, currently the #1 ranked team in the division. 

The following week they play in Butte and return home to host the Badlands Sabres October 25 and 26.