Friday Finals: Ice Bats Win Thriller on Opening Night

Michael Garrett netted a hat trick for the RoadRunners in their season opening win (Photo Credits: Cover: Lyca Williams, Story: Lola Wade)

Texas R 5 @ Pelham 1 - The Pelham Prowlers opened their inaugural season by taking on the Texas Roadrunners in an exciting Southeast Division matchup. While it was a historic night for the Prowlers, it was the more experienced Roadrunners that would come out on top. Texas opened the scoring with a short-handed goal from Logan Diskey, followed by a point from Michael Garrett. Garrett went on to complete a hat trick, scoring again in the second and third. The Roadrunners’ other goal came from Wyatt Mineheine who beat Prowlers’ goaltender, Garrett Ambrose, with a low wrist shot in the second. Pelham’s lone goal, and first in team history, was scored unassisted by Jacob Harrison. This goal followed a team timeout after a few missed scoring chances. Despite the loss, Ambrose played an incredible game for the Prowlers, battling a total of 54 shots in many high pressure moments.

West Texas 3 @ Austin 4 (SO) - The Austin Ice Bats defeated the West Texas Wranglers in their season opener and spoil the Wranglers debut. Although it wasn’t the ending that the Wranglers wanted, they have announced their arrival to the rest of the league losing in a shootout against the Ice Bats. Gavin Brown started the scoring early netting the Wranglers first NA3HL goal with Dillon Roberts and Dustin Woodfin picking up the assists. The Ice Bats would answer back with a goal of their own late in the first period, Matthieu Leblanc scoring with Sol Levy and Wesley Abron getting credited for the assist. Six minutes into the second period Leblanc would score again with Levy picking up another assist along with Arys Perardi. Just six minutes later Gavin Brown would answer with another goal of his own this time Chase Mathews and Jason McKenna with the assist. The flood gates have opened as Leblanc answers once again and gets the hat trick for the night, Jax Edgerton and Liam Cardona picking up the apples. Almost like it was out of a movie, regulation would end just as it started, Gavin Brown scoring again for a hat trick of his own while Dustin Woodfin and Dillon Roberts pick up the assists just like they did at the start of the game. With the game tied three a piece it went to a shootout. The shootout began with the Wranglers having all three of their shots being saved from the Austin goalkeeper Tyler White. With the game on the line it was up to the Wranglers keeper Garrett Lant to save the game. Saving the first shot from Liam Cardona. But the man of the hour, Mattheiu Leblanc, puts one in the back of the net to win the game for the Ice Bats 4-3. A thriller that came down to the wire with all the scoring done by just two players.

Helena 8 @ Great Falls 3 - Defending Frontier Division champions, the Helena Bighorns, opened their season on the road, paying a visit to the Great Falls Americans on Friday night. Chase Berg wasted no time opening the scoring. The right-handed forward from Anchorage, Alaska, put the Bighorns on the board first, scoring nine seconds into the game. The Americans responded later in the 1st period with two goals scored by Cooper Clouse and Tallon Caron to take the lead 2-1. Their efforts weren't enough, though, as the Bighorns ripped off five goals in the 2nd period and two more in the 3rd. Austin Uecker had a big night for Helena. The forward from Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, earned three points, scoring one goal and assisting on two others. John Nanos stood tall in net for the Bighorns. He padded away 31 of the 34 shots on goal and secured the win for Helena. This was the first of six matchups between these two teams this season.

Sheridan 2 @ Badlands 3 - It's now time for the start of the 2025-26 season in the NA3HL, as the Badlands Sabres hosted their home opener against the Sheridan Hawks Friday evening. The Hawks put on a show for the fans in attendance at Roosevelt Park Ice Arena when they lit the lamp three times over the span of 60 minutes. Dayton Niedert opened the scoring for the Sabres all by himself to start off the first period. Minutes later into the first, he assisted a play for Peyton Kostad to make it 2-0. Badlands carried the two goal lead going into the middle frame. But seven minutes in, Max Krueger cut the deficit in half for the Hawks when he put one past Jackson Roethler from a feed by Vincent Leaf. Shortly after that, the visiting team would capitalize off the momentum from the previous goal and tie things up at two from Elijah Farris. However that tie game would quickly end before the Hawks could blink, as just nine seconds after, Justin Reams would score on TJ Wonnacott from a setup by Patrick Gosselin to make it 3-2 Sabres. For the third, the home club held their ground and defended their zone from another tie-scoring episode, with Roethler standing tall between the pipes. With time winding down for the Hawks, Wonnacott was pulled for the extra attacker, but nothing was rendered out of the scheme. As such, Roethler attempted to score a goalie goal with seven seconds left on the clock, but missed the net by a couple of meters. Nevertheless, the Sabres took game one of the NA3HL season 3-2 over the Hawks. 

Bozeman 8 @ Butte 1 - The home opener for the Butte Irish couldn’t have started any better as Easton Langemo netted the game’s first goal just 25 seconds into the action. However, after that it was all Bozeman. Devin Burns scored twice and added in three assists to lead the Icedogs to an 8-1 victory over the Irish. Lex Steckelberg netted a hat trick and added a helper for Bozeman while Matthew Stamp had a multi point night with a goal and an assist. Alex Brello and Sam Trufant lit the lamp as well in the victory. Jack Ryan earned the win in between the pipes with 32 saves. Zander Harp suffered the loss in goal despite making 46 stops.