Utes Win Twice to Open Season

September 26, 2016
Salt Lake City, UT

The University of Utah Skatin’ Utes opened up their first season in Division I of the ACHA over the weekend and picked up a pair of wins over in-state rivals.

The season began on Friday as the Utes traveled north for a showdown with the Weber State Wildcats, looking for their sixth straight win over their rivals from Ogden. The Utes controlled the first period, outshooting the Wildcats 14-5 but couldn’t find the back of the net leading to a scoreless first period. The action heated up in the second period though, as Connor Meaney and Julian Cronan both scored to give the Utes a 2-0 lead after the second period.

The Wildcats were able to pull one back early in the third period to cut Utah’s lead to 2-1, but thanks to goals by Sam Bawden and David Barnes in the final ten minutes, the Utes were able to cruise to victory with a 4-1 win.

The Utes out shot the Wildcats 41-23 in the game and earned their sixth straight win over Weber State, a streak that extends back to the 2013-2014 season. Chris Komma picked up his first win of the season, stopping 22 of 23 shots in the game.

After picking up the win in Ogden on Friday, the Utes returned to Salt Lake City on Saturday for their home opener against another in-state rival, this time the Utah State Aggies. Much like the night before, the Utes controlled the first period by out shooting the Aggies 14-11 but found no goals which led to another scoreless first period.

The Aggies took control of the game in the second period, as Frank Flight scored a breakaway goal followed by a Brett Fernandez power play goal five minutes later to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead. The Utes were able to cut the lead in half with 11 minutes left in the second period, as Utah rookie Cody West scored his first collegiate goal to make it 2-1 with 11:06 left.

In the third period, the Utes were able to tie things up with 16:27 left as Nick Fornelius found a rebound in front to tie the game at 2-2. The score would remain tied until the final minutes of the game, when another rookie for Utah scored his first goal as a Ute. This time Connor Meaney would find Alex King in front of the goal who scored his first goal to give the Utes a 3-2 lead with 3:16 left in the game. The Utes were able to hold off a final rally from the Aggies and held on for the 3-2 win for their second victory of the season.

The Utes out shot the Aggies 30-26 in the game and extended their unbeaten streak over the Aggies to six games dating back to 2015. Komma picked up win number two in Saturday night’s game, stopping 24 of 26 shots. The win on Saturday also moved Komma to within one win of the all-time team record for wins as a goaltender with 45, just one win behind Pete Gibb’s record of 46 career wins.

The Utes now sit at 2-0 on the season and will hit the road for the next two weekends. Next week, the Utes will head to North Dakota for the team’s first ever meeting with new Division I team Jamestown on Friday and Saturday.