Top Ten Moments of 2014

December 31, 2014
Salt Lake City, UT

The University of Utah Hockey Team has come a long way since the club formed back in 2006. Starting with just one win in their inaugural season, the squad has now become one of the elite teams in the West and one of the most popular sports on campus at the U.

As the calendar shifts from 2014 to 2015, the Utes are getting ready for more historical moments which include the 1st Annual Wasatch Cup, a run towards another PAC-8 Championship, and most importantly their first trip to the ACHA Nationals where they’ll have home ice advantage.

Before we get ready for the stretch run to Nationals, let’s look back at the top ten moments of 2014 for the University of Utah Skatin’ Utes.

On Halloween night, the Utes took on the Boise State Broncos at home while making their debut of their Black Drum and Feather jerseys in front of the home crowd. The Utes came out flying all over the Broncos taking a 2-1 lead into the second period.

But the Broncos found life in the second scoring three unanswered goals to take 4-2 lead into the third period. The Utes would get one back halfway through the final period and throw everything they had at the Broncos in the final minutes. The relentless pressure finally broke through for Utah with 18 seconds left as Michael Ahern scored to tie the game at 4-4 and force overtime. The Utes would lose 5-4 in OT but thanks to Ahern’s goal it kept Utah’s home winning streak alive in regulation time.

#9: October 10th, Utah Travels to First ACHA Showcase

Thanks to Utah hosting Nationals this season, the Utes were able to afford a trip to Ohio to take on some of the best teams in the country at the ACHA Showcase in Mentor, Ohio. The appearance in the annual tournament was the first in club history for the Utes and a great chance to see how they matched up against some of the best teams in the country.

The Utes started the showcase off strong, coming from behind to beat Toledo 6-4 to start their weekend. The Utes also held leads over National Semifinalist Grand Valley State in game two and national contender Davenport in game three in a great learning experience for the team early in the season. The Utes went 1-3 on the weekend but gained valuable experience which will pay dividends at the 2015 National Tournament in March.

As mentioned before, the Utes have come a long way over the past couple of seasons and their recent successes were rewarded this season as they debuted at number three in the first ACHA West Rankings this season.

The spot in the ranking is the highest the Utes have ever been in the poll that decides who will advance to the postseason at the end of the season. The Utes have finished 5th in the rankings the last three seasons and are still 3rd in the rankings as of right now.

For years the Aggies have dominated the Utes on the ice when Utah was still trying to emerge as an elite team in the West Division. Now that the Utes have reached that summit, they have had several milestones against their rival over the last three years and another milestone was accomplished this season.

After winning both games this season at home the Utes traveled up to Logan to look for their second straight season series win and third win of the season over Utah State. After giving up an early power play goal to the Aggies the Utes answered in the second period and Shaymus Bertagnolli scored the game winner in the third to give the Utes a hard fought 2-1 win and another season series win over Utah State.

One of the more heated rivalries in the state of Utah is between Utah and Weber State and has produced a lot of fireworks over the past couple of seasons. This season has been one of the more mellow installments of the rivalry, but that hasn’t kept the Utes from picking up wins against the Wildcats.

Having already won their first three games against Weber State this season, the Utes looked for win number four and the sweep in Ogden. The Utes came flying out of the gate taking a 4-1 lead into the second period. The Utes would add four more goals throughout the rest of the game to grab an 8-2 win and get a 4-0 season series sweep over the Wildcats.

One of the biggest games on Utah’s calendar this season was Arizona State’s visit to Utah as the Utes looked for revenge for their 6-5 five-overtime loss in last year’s PAC 8 Championship. In the first game of their weekend matchup the battle on the ice went back and forth with both teams holding onto the lead throughout the game.

Late in the third Utah was up by one until ASU scored with 44 seconds left to tie the game at 4-4. Just a couple of seconds later, Josh Dangel found a loose puck in front of the net and scored to give Utah the last lead of the game. The Utes would hold on and beat the Sun Devils 5-4 and get their revenge against the Sun Devils.

As mentioned time and time again in this post how much Utah has grown over the years. Another accomplishment that the team has had is the ability year in and year out to make it to the postseason. The Utes qualified for the ACHA West Regionals for the third straight year last season with their highest seed ever in the tournament as the second seed in the eight-team playoff. The Utes first round opponent would be the ninth ranked Loyola Marymount Lions in Flagstaff, AZ.

The Utes would outskate the Lions for the first two periods and take an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Andrew Wood and Julian Cronan. With an injury-depleted bench at a very high altitude in Flagstaff, the Utes were able to hold on to their lead and beat the Lions 2-1 to advance to their third straight regional final.

The Utah BYU hockey rivalry has been one of win streaks. BYU won the first 17 games of the rivalry but Utah has controlled the rivalry since, winning 19 in a row and looked for number 20 and their third win of the season over the Cougars. After seeing the Utes down early to BYU, the Utes scored nine unanswered goals to clinch another Holy War Series victory and their 20th straight win over the team down south.

But the game was momentous for another reason. The game was Utah’s second annual Teddy Bear Toss where the team collects stuffed animals to give to local charities before the holidays. The Ute faithful came out in droves and donated over 500 stuffed animals to give to charity just in time for Christmas.

While the outcome may not have been what he Utes wanted, the 2014 PAC-8 Championship was one of the most memorable games in Utah and PAC-8 history. It was a matchup of undefeateds, as both Utah and Arizona State came in with perfect PAC-8 records for their first ever meeting between the two teams.

Utah took an early 2-0 lead going into the second period, and after that the game went back and forth as Utah held on to one and two goal leads heading into the third. ASU was able to score early in the third to tie it but Ben Seastrand scored his fourth goal of the game with seven minutes left and it looked like Utah was heading to their second straight conference title. But a controversial goal in the final minute of regulation allowed ASU to tie it up at 5-5 and send the championship to overtime.

After four overtimes that saw Utah have chance after chance including another controversial no goal call against Utah, one final questionable call was made in the fifth overtime as the Sun Devils scored and won their first ever PAC-8 title.

The biggest accomplishment for Utah over the last twelve months was their dominance at home. Opponents that came to the Utah Ice Sheet over the previous season had trouble taking down the Utes as the home crowd helped the Utes to 15 wins at home for their first ever perfect home record for a season.

Over that span the Utes outscored their opponents 170-18 at home which included five wins over top ten teams in the West Division last season. The Utes were able to extend the regular season win streak at home to 18 games by winning their first three games at home this season.