October 24, 2014
Salt Lake City, UT
After playing their last nine games on the road, the Utah Skatin’ Utes return to the Utah Ice Sheet this weekend against BYU and head to Ogden to take on Weber State.
The 5-3-1 record over the past road trip now has the Utes at a 7-3-1 record coming into this weekend’s games, which are also the final games to be played before the first ACHA rankings will be released.
On Friday the Utes will play at home for the first time in almost a month as they host the BYU Cougars. The game marks the second matchup between the two rivals this season, with Utah winning the first game 6-1 in Provo at the beginning of October. The Cougars have yet to find a win this season, starting the year 0-6.
Axel Boyer is the main offensive threat for BYU as he leads the team in scoring with 13 points including the lone goal scored against Utah in their first meeting this year. The other name to watch for the Cougars is goaltender Scott Mehr who has been relentlessly been tested by this Utah squad this year. In the first meeting, Mehr tallied 62 saves on 68 shots against the Utes.
Friday’s home game also marks the 3rd Annual Utah Hockey “Fearless in the Fight” Breast Cancer Awareness game. The Utes will once again wear pink jerseys that will be auctioned off during the game with all proceeds going towards breast cancer research. There will also be raffles, face painting and much more throughout the night.
On Saturday the Utes will head back out on the road for their second matchup against another in-state rival Weber State. The Utes won the first meeting 6-3 at the Utah Ice sheet in the Utes’ season opener. While the Utes have seen success against the Wildcats at home recently, the same cannot be said when the Utes head to Ogden. The Utes dropped both games against Weber State in Ogden last year.
After finishing as the top ranked team in the West Division a year ago, the Wildcats have struggled mightily out of the gate this season. Weber State is 2-6 on the season and has lost five straight heading into this weekend. With the first ranking just around the corner, the Wildcats are in desperate need of a win if they want to see themselves in the top 15 when the ranking comes out.
Defenseman Phil Jennrich leads the team in scoring with 11 points on the season, 10 of those coming by way of assists. The main goal scorer has been newcomer Jesse Collins who has six goals and 10 points on the campaign. In goal, Dalton Kay has seen the most action with a 1-4 record this season. Kay was in net against the Utes last time, where he has 30 saves on 35 shots in the loss.
As for Utah, Chase McDonald leads the team in points with 13 so far this season. The Utes have found that scoring has been spread out this year with five Utes trailing McDonald for second on the team in points. Andrew Wood, Douglas Newell, Michael Ahern, Beau Bertagnolli, and Kurtis Kunz are all tied with seven points this season. In goal Chris Komma is 5-2-1 on the season and Devan Betts is 2-1 on the season.
Friday night’s game at the Utah Ice Sheet will start at 7pm and will be broadcasted live online. Saturday’s game against Weber State will also be broadcasted with the game starting also at 7pm.
