November 4, 2016
Buffalo, NY
The University of Utah Skatin’ Utes continue their four-game road trip this weekend with a new ranking in tote, as they head to New York for this weekend’s Buffalo Meltdown tournament.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT:
The Buffalo Meltdown tournament consists of eight teams with the Utes making the trip out east to join the University of Buffalo, Syracuse University, Duquesne University, Canisius College, Cornell University, #22 University of Alabama, and Western Michigan University in a three-day tournament. The Utes will play Buffalo on Friday night before a quick turnaround Saturday morning as they take on Syracuse. The Utes will play a game on Sunday afternoon as well, either the championship or consolation game depending on how the weekend goes. This weekend’s games will all be the first games against these opponents for Utah in team history.
ABOUT THE UTES:
The Utes are coming into this weekend looking for a bounce back after suffering their worst losses in over six years to #1 Minot State on the road last weekend. Thanks to their extremely tough strength of schedule, the Utes were rewarded in the first ACHA D1 Computer Rankings of the year where they now sit at #23 in the country. The team is 6-6 on the season and are looking to get back on the winning track this weekend.
Alex King, Josh Dangel, and Brett Myer all share the team lead in points for Utah with 12 each, with King hold the team lead in goals with eight. Myer has the most assists on the team with 11. Chris Komma has led the way in net so far with a 4-6 record, along with a 3.30 GAA and .913 save percentage.
ABOUT THE BULLS:
The University of Buffalo Bulls were ranked at the beginning of the season but have since fallen off the path a little bit as they sit a 4-5-0-1 on the season going into this weekend. The Bulls are coming off a pair of wins last weekend at home, beating Niagara 4-2 and Indiana University of Pennsylvania 5-1. The Bulls have won three straight games going into this weekend, and will play Duquesne on Saturday after playing Utah on Friday.
Eric Szczecinski leads the team in points with 11 on the season and also leads the team in goals with five and assists with six. In goal, Tyler Stark has seen the most time between the pipes with a 2-2 record on the season. Stark has a 3.06 GAA and a .915 save percentage this season.
ABOUT THE ORANGE:
The Syracuse Orange aren’t too happy with the ACHA this week as the Orange found their way all the way up to 13th in the ACHA Rankings last week before the computer rankings came out this week and kicked the team out of the top 25. The Orange have a 9-2-1 record this season and are coming off a split weekend with #17 Stony Brook on the road last weekend. Syracuse is in the same boast as Utah as far as the weekend schedule goes, with the Orange playing Duquesne Friday night before turning around quickly to play Utah Saturday morning.
Peter Owen Hayward leads the team in points with 29 and leads the team in goals with 15 already this season. Zachary Shapiro has seen the most time in net for Syracuse, who has a 6-1-1 record with a 2.76 and a .890 save percentage.
Friday’s game against Buffalo is at 5:30pm MT at the Northtown Center at Amherst in Amherst, NY. The game is scheduled to be broadcasted live on fasthockey.com. Saturday will be a quick turnaround for the Utes as they’ll take on Syracuse at 9:30am MT at the Buffalo Riverworks Arena, a partially indoor/outdoor rink in downtown Buffalo, NY. Sunday’s game will be determined on Saturday, and we’ll update that game on our Facebook page.
