January 17, 2014
Flagstaff, AZ
After a successful weekend against Washington to open up the second semester, the Utah Skatin’ Utes hit the road for the final time this season as they take on a pair of top five teams.
In their last road trip, the Utes head to Arizona for a pair of games against #4 Northern Arizona and #1 Arizona State Elite.
The Utes have played NAU once already this season, but haven’t seen the Sun Devils since last year.
Utah opens the weekend on Friday for their two-game set with the Icejacks. Utah is 1-4 all-time against NAU, which includes a 6-5 loss in the Beehive Showcase in Ogden this year.
Although these two teams don’t play each other that often, this is one of the biggest and most exciting rivalries in the West Division. In the last three games between the two teams, the game has gone down to the wire with two of them having playoff implications.
In 2012, NAU and Utah met with a ticket to Nationals on the line where NAU led 2-1 late in the game and added an empty net goal to win 3-1 and advance to Nationals. In the next season, Utah got its revenge at Regionals knocking out the Icejacks in the first round by coming back from three down to force overtime and win 7-6 in the extra frame.
In the 6-5 loss suffered by Utah this year, NAU came back from four down to win in Ogden and jump past Utah in the ACHA Rankings.
NAU is 15-13 on the season, but are 14-8 against Division II opponents this year. The Icejacks are led by Gregory Park, who leads the team with 34 points on the season. In goal, NAU has James Korte in the net who has a 4.15 GAA and a save percentage of .880 this year. In the last game against Utah, Korte gave up 5 goals on 27 shots in the win.
After Friday and Saturday’s games against NAU, the Utes head south to Tempe for their toughest test of the season against the top-ranked team in the West Division in Arizona State.
The elite team is having a great season so far, putting up an impressive 19-1 record this season. The Utes and Sun Devils last met last year, where ASU picked up a 4-1 win at Utah. Utah is 1-2 all-time against Arizona State.
Justin Butler leads the team in points, goals, and assists this year, with 44 points, 14 goals, and 30 assists on the season respectively. Joining him above 40 points this year is Justin Havriliak who has an even 40 on the year. In goal, Kyle Dietriech still holds it together between the pipes with a 14-0 record this year. He also has a 2.03 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
On the Utah side, the Utes look to make a final push for a top spot at Regionals or even an outside shot at an automatic berth to Nationals this weekend by looking for some top five wins. These will be the final ranked games of the season until Utah plays #2 Utah State for Senior Night in two weeks.
Josh Dangel is still tops on the team with 29 goals and 23 assists for 52 points this season, which are all team highs. Pete Gibb is back in net for the Utes, picking up his first win of the year against Washington last weekend. Gibb has a 1.00 GAA with a .950 save percentage on the season, and has the lone wins against NAU and Arizona State on his resume.
Friday and Saturday night’s games begin at 8:30pm MT in Flagstaff, AZ. Sunday afternoon’s contest against ASU will begin at 1:10pm PT.
