Utes Ready For First D1 Opponent

September 30, 2016
Jamestown, ND

The season of firsts for the University of Utah Skatin’ Utes continues this weekend as the Utes hit the road for their first ACHA Division I games against the University of Jamestown.

The two games in North Dakota will be the first two of four meetings between the teams, and also marks the first time that these two teams have ever met.

Like Utah, Jamestown is new this year to Division 1 of the ACHA. Not only that, but the Jimmies are making their debut in the ACHA in general in the program’s first season. Because of that, the Jimmies are the only team of the three that joined Division 1 this year that is not eligible to compete at Nationals this season.

The season so far has gone well for the Jimmies, posting a 3-0-0-1 record through their first two weekends. The Jimmies have 8-1 and 6-3 wins over Division II’s North Dakota State (NDSU finished 4-15 last season) and split last weekend with Midland University from Nebraska, winning 4-3 and losing 3-2 in a shootout.

The Jimmies are also a very young team, with 26 freshmen on their 34-man roster. Freshman defenseman Trevor Okino leads the team in points so far with six points, all assists. The leading goal scorer is second in points as Cole Zimmerman has five goals so far for his five points total. Tyson Brouwer is the main guy in between the pipes for the Jimmies, playing in three games so far for Jamestown. Brouwer is 2-1 with a 1.95 GAA and .919 save percentage.

As for the Utes, the team is going off wins over Division II teams and in-state rivals Weber State and Utah State last weekend and sit at 2-0 on the season. Nick Fornelius leads the team in scoring after the first weekend with a goal and three assists for four points. Julian Cronan is in second with three points followed by four other Utes with two points. The first weekend of the season also saw the first goals in the careers of rookies Cody West and Alex King, both scoring against Utah State last Saturday. In goal, Chris Komma is 2-0 so far on the season with a 1.50 GAA and .940 save percentage.

Friday night’s game in Jamestown, ND starts at 6:30pm MT with Saturday night’s game beginning at 6pm MT. Both games are scheduled to be broadcasted live on the Jamestown Athletics website.