Great Falls goalie Moran makes NCAA commitment

April 14, 2015

The Great Falls Americans (NA3HL) are pleased to announce that a goaltender from the 2014-15 squad has decided to continue his education at the college level and play for the St. Olaf College Oles, an NCAA Division III private liberal arts school in Minnesota. 

 

Jordan Moran will join the St. Olaf College men’s hockey team located in Northfield, Minnesota in the fall of 2015. The Minnesota athletic team is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC).

 

Moran, a 6’3” goaltender from Prior Lake, Minnesota accumulated 628 saves in both the regular season and playoffs during the 2014-15 season with two teams. He was acquired by the Great Falls Americans in a trade with fellow NA3HL league member, the North Iowa Bulls in January 2015. The Bulls won the 2015 USA Hockey Tier III National Championship this past season. 

 

Moran finished the current season as the No.3 goaltender with a Goals Against Average (GAA) of 1.86 in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The Americans goaltender produced a 16-9 record including going 4-3 in the playoffs. He helped lead the Great Falls Americans to the NA3HL Frontier Divisional team title this season by sweeping the Billings Bulls and the Helena Bighorns 2-0 in each of their series. Great Falls advanced to the 2015 NA3HL Silver Cup Tournament in Geneva, Illinois falling in three games. The Americans finished the season with a 38-13-3 record including a 20-5-1 record at the Great Falls Ice Plex.

 

The St. Olaf College commit finished with three shutout victories during the 2014-15 campaign. He picked up a 2-0 win in October against the Breezy Point North Stars as a member of the Bulls organization and defeated the Glacier Nationals 7-0 and the Yellowstone Quake 6-0 down the stretch in February while in a Great Falls uniform. 

 

In addition to playing with North Iowa during the 2013-14 season, he also suited up for the Twin City Steel (St. Paul, Minnesota) of the North American 3 Hockey League.

 

The new college signee “thought that the Americans had a good playoff run and beating Helena was the team’s biggest accomplishment in addition to the team making their first trip to the NA3HL Silver Cup Tournament in the team’s first year in the (NA3HL) league.”

 

Jordan mentioned that he had a great experience playing in Great Falls and the time after high school he was able to mature as a person and a hockey player while getting stronger and improving as a goalie.

He praised the entire coaching staff this season after arriving in Great Falls late in the season. “Coach (Jeff) Heimel and the coaching staff were great to me this season especially coming on to the team in January,” said the former Great Falls Americans standout. “Jeff gave me a chance to compete for playing time and it worked out that I played well and we were able to accomplish our goals for the team this season.”

 

After competing in junior hockey, he looks forward to another challenge and an opportunity to compete at a higher level of hockey at St. Olaf College. The Economics major wanted to thank all of the Great Falls fans and supporters as well as the coaching staff for making it a great overall experience for him in his final season of junior hockey.