PREVIEW: Utah vs Arizona State
October 21, 2016
Salt Lake City, UT
The University of Utah Skatin’ Utes are back at home this weekend as they take on Arizona State’s Division II team Friday and Saturday at the Utah Ice Sheet. Tickets are still available here.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
Utah is 1-2 all-time against Arizona State when the Sun Devils have just one ACHA Division II team. Since 2013, Arizona State has had two teams at the D2 level – ASU Elite and ASU Maroon/PAC 8. This year’s team is taking the place of the ASU Maroon team, which Utah is 2-2 all-time against.
ABOUT THE UTES:
The Utes are coming off a pair of wins against in-state rivals Weber State and Utah State last weekend to push their record to 4-4 on the season. The Utes were able to beat the Wildcats 7-1 at home last Friday, followed by a 5-2 win over Utah State in Logan on Saturday. The Utes are 4-0 against Division II teams so far this season, with Arizona State being the first D2 team outside of Utah that the Utes have faced this season.
ABOUT THE SUN DEVILS:
Arizona State has had a rocky start to the season, posting a 2-5 record so far this season. The Sun Devils are coming off a split weekend at home against Boise State, where they lost 7-2 and won 4-0. The Sun Devils were up in Ogden last night, losing to Weber State 6-3. The team is fairly new for ASU, as the team consists of 17 new players, ten players from the ASU Maroon team last year, and two players from last year’s ASU Elite team.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FOR UTAH: Connor Meaney, Alex King, and Brett Myer are all tied for the team lead in points with eight each. In goal, Chris Komma has played in all eight games for Utah, posting a 4-4 record with a 2.02 GAA and .939 save percentage. Komma’s .939 save percentage is ranked 8th in the nation at the Division I level.
FOR ARIZONA STATE: Nathan Kiven leads the team in points with eight, and also leads the team in goals with five so far though six games. Ryan Seltenreich, Jacob Krupp, and Oliver Boerst have all seen time in net so far for ASU. Seltenreich has the best numbers of the three with a 2-1 record with a 1.76 GAA and .960 save percentage. Krupp and Boerst have had a tougher time though as the two are a combined 0-3 with 20 goals allowed between the two in those three games.
Friday night’s game is at 8pm in Salt Lake City with Saturday’s weekend finale starting at 7:30pm. Both games are scheduled to be broadcasted live on Utah Hockey Game Day Live.