October 16, 2026
Salt Lake City, Utah
The University of Utah Men’s Division 1 (M1) team plays host to Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL) foe Arizona for a weekend series. The Utes come in ranked 10th and the Wildcats ranked 20th.
Utah is coming off a bye weekend.
On October 2-3, the Utes swept the University of Oklahoma on home ice, outscoring the Sooners 9-4 in two games. The M1 Skatin Utes improved their record to 5-0 on the season, and 2-0 in the WCHL.
Arizona comes into the series with a loss last weekend at Grand Canyon University. The Wildcats are 0-3-1 in the early goings of this season with losses against Grand Canyon and Liberty University. Their conference record thus far is 0-1-1. Arizona is the only team in the WCHL to have yet to record a win.
Utah is looking to continue their strong defensive performances, as they are currently only surrendering 1.4 goals against per game compared to Arizona’s 5. Both goaltenders for the Utes have had strong starts as Garrett Fuller and Joey Greilich are posting a .922 and .959 save percentages, respectively.
Trevor Kruczek and Gavin Barr both have 6 points in 5 games for the Utes. Nikola Schwab is leading the way with 3 goals for Utah.
Although Arizona has had a tough start, forwards Riley Ruh and Justin Hughes both have averaged 1 point per game. Riley Fast and defenseman Alex Helgson both have 3 points in the same 4 game stretch.
Utah and Arizona have met 18 times since 2021. The Utes have 4 wins and 2 losses against the Wildcats dating back to the 2024 season. Utah is 4-0 against Arizona in their last 4 matchups in Salt Lake City, and 7-1 against the Cats at home since 2021.
Series Projection
Arizona has had a tough start to the season, however they have played the #6 and #13 ranked teams in the country in Liberty and Grand Canyon. The only ranked opponent Utah has seen this season was #21 Missouri State, whom they defeated 5-2 in Lake Placid, NY.
Look for the Utes strong defensive play to dictate the pace of this series. The Utes are averaging 1.4 goals against per game and Arizona is averaging 3.3 goals for per game. Arizona will need to get on the board early and often in this series to maintain pace with the Utes. The Wildcats are shooting 35% on the power play thus far, so the Utes will need to stay out of the box in this series.
Utah has had Arizona’s number on home ice since joining the WCHL in 2021, but games between these rivals are typically close. We saw Oklahoma perform well in Salt Lake City 2 weeks ago despite coming into the series with poor team statistics. Arizona will be hungry to earn some much needed WCHL points. The Utes are well equipped to continue riding their early season momentum, however Arizona will not make that an easy feat for the home side.