November 7, 2014
Salt Lake City
The University of Utah Skatin’ Utes have been the cream of the crop in the state of Utah this season, posting a 6-0 record against in-state opponents so far this season. They have two wins over Utah State, Weber State, and BYU so far and this weekend the Utes will look for win number three against both Weber State and Utah State on the road.
On Friday the Utes will head to Ogden for their final matchup of the season against the Weber State Wildcats. The Utes are 2-0 against WSU already this year which includes a 4-2 win in Ogden two weekends ago. Utah will also be looking for the season sweep of the Wildcats for the first time in club history.
The #7 Wildcats are still reeling this year, now 3-9-1 after going to Florida last weekend to take on Southeast Region #1 Florida Gulf Coast and losing 10-3 and 11-0. They’ll look to play spoiler against Utah in front of their home crowd and try and avoid the season sweep.
Jesse Collins still leads the team in points with 14 in 13 games but right behind him is Lakoda Coleman and Phil Jennrich who both have 13 points this year. Dalton Kay remains the man between the pipes and is expected to play against Utah Friday night as he has played in both of the Utah games earlier this year. Kay is 1-7 this year and has a 6.85 GAA and a .796 save percentage. Kay played outstanding in the last game against Utah, as he stopped 52 shots in the 4-2 loss two weekends ago. The Utes might also see Lucas Thatcher Friday night for the first time, as he has a 2-2-1 record, 4.99 GAA, and .809 save percentage on the season.
After their matchup against Weber State on Friday, the Utes will make their first trip to Logan this season to take on #6 Utah State. The Utes are also 2-0 against the Aggies this year as they held serve at home with 4-0 and 3-1 wins earlier in the year. Saturday night’s game is also Military Appreciation Night at Utah State, where active duty military and veterans will be able to watch the game free of charge.
The Aggies have struggled this season as well, going 3-7 on the season. Leading the way for USU is Cooper Limb who has 13 points in 10 games this season and behind him is Chris Videto with 10 points. The Aggies have struggled to find the net this season with Limb and Videto being the only players on the active roster with at least 10 points this season, with the team averaging 3.3 goals per game.
The Utes have seen both Austin Willenborg and Keegan McHenry in net for the Aggies and have one win against each of them. Willenborg is 2-4 with a 3.71 GAA and .896 save percentage while McHenry is 1-3 with a 4.16 GAA and .877 save percentage this season.
The #3 Utes will be looking for wins number 11 and 12 this weekend as they look to further solidify that they are the team to beat in the state of Utah this season. Still leading the way in scoring is Chase McDonald with 17 points with Josh Dangel right behind him with 16 points this season. Seven different Utes are now in double digits in points this year and 21 different skaters have tallied at least one point this season.
In net Chris Komma is 8-3-1 this year with a 2.93 GAA and .897 save percentage and Devan Betts is 2-1 with a 2.01 GAA and .904 save percentage.
Friday night’s game in Ogden starts at 715pm and Saturday’s contest in Logan will start at 7pm.
