Sheridan Hawks Junior Hockey Team Split 2-Game Home Series With Great Falls; Host Gillette And Rapid City

Experience is starting to pay off for the Sheridan Hawks Junior Hockey team.

The team leads the NA3HL’s Frontier division in goals scored with 90 through 20 games played, and that’s good for 5th overall in the league.

Returning forward Vincent Leaf leads Sheridan in terms of goals scored with 19 and in assists with 21.

That combined 41 point total leads the Frontier Division and is 10th overall in the league.

Leaf says it’s not all about him, as many other players are using their experience to get in on the scoring.

“I think it helps a lot. A lot of guys they played here last year and last year I think we had 6 guys who had played in the league before and this year we have 15, so just a lot of experience, a lot of confidence for guys playing their second year and just kind of getting more touches, more confidence throughout the year.”

The Hawks split this past weekend’s home games vs. Great Falls, losing on Friday 4-3 and winning on Saturday 3-1.

Sheridan is home again this weekend as the team plays Gillette on Friday and Rapid City on Saturday.

The puck drops in both games at 7:30pm.

Weekend Recap: (Courtesy: Sheridan Hawks)

It was a physical and action-packed suspenseful game on Friday night. 

Both teams were riding into this contest with a heater on their hands, and Great Falls was the team to keep their win streak alive.

The matchup kicked off with the Hawks’ Jeff Slivon lighting the lamp first on a power play at the 12:16 minute mark in the first frame.

The Americans though came back to tie it up approaching the end of the first period with a goal at the six minute mark, and then would extend their lead finding the back of the net on a 5-on-3 Hawks penalty kill.

With 51 seconds left on the clock in the first, Sheridan would even the contest 2-2 thanks to Kyle Rihela notching his second goal of the season.

Moving into the second frame, Great Falls would score again at the 16:52 minute mark and not long behind that extended their team’s lead thanks to two power play goals in a row.

The Hawks pulled netminder Wyatt Knott and with six skaters were able to tighten up the matchup thanks to late-game heroics by Elijah White notching a goal with 20 seconds on the clock.

Despite getting several more shots in the last few seconds, Sheridan would fall to the Americans 4-3.

Despite the loss, Sheridan’s Knott had an impressive performance between the pipes, stopping 39 of 43 shots, and with 3 of those that got by coming from penalty kills, 2 of which the Hawks were 2 skaters short handed.

Saturday night the Sheridan Hawks again hosted the Great Falls Americans, and after the Americans won on Friday, the home town Hawks looked to bounce back and get a win in front of their fans.

The first period was all Hawks as they got on the board first with a short handed goal by Elijah White, followed by Vincent Leaf tickling the twine to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

In the second, the Americans on the board with a successful power play with three minutes left in the middle frame.

The Hawks would maintain their 2-1 lead into the third.

In the third, there would be no scoring until 55 seconds left in the game when Dante Hunziker would add an insurance empty net goal for the Hawks.

The Hawks secured the 3-1 win on home ice, splitting the series with the Great Falls Americans and maintaining their position at the top of the Frontier division. 

Sheridan goalie TJ Wonnacott got his seventh win of the season, stopping 40 of 41 shots on net for a 0.975 save percentage in the game.

This weekend coming up the Hawks take on the Gillette Wild on Friday and the Badlands Sabres on Saturday, both on home ice.

Its Military Appreciation weekend with free admission for current and former military personnel. 

The Hawks will be wearing special Military Appreciation jerseys and these game worn jerseys are up for auction at www.32auctions.com/thankyouvets25. 

Proceeds from the auction will be shared to benefit the Wyo West Warrior Foundation, a local organization dedicated to honoring and supporting those who have sacrificed for our safety and freedom.