Utah comes Home

November 13, 2013 Salt Lake City, UT The Utah Skatin’ Utes have dominated the PAC-8 this year, going 8-0 in the conference so far this year. And a pair of wins this weekend will put the final stamp on their regular season success. Last year’s PAC-8 runner up Oregon comes to Salt Lake City this weekend and the third ranked Utes will look to sweep the Ducks this year and clnich the first ever PAC-8 North Division title. With a pair of wins, the Utes will have a 10-0 record with four games remaining in their PAC-8 schedule. If the Utes win both games, Oregon will join both Washington and Washington State with having at least four losses in the conference which will mathematically give Utah the divsion title. And that good news would be welcome for the Utes, as they have lost their last three appearances on the ice after winning their first 11 games. With the Beehive Showcase looming next week, a pair of wins this weekend can put the Utes back on track before a big weekend in the West Division. The Ducks will be looking to right the ship as well this weekend after going 0-3 in San Jose last weekend, inlcuding a 9-0 loss to #2 Northern Arizona and a 4-0 loss to #9 San Jose State. The Ducks now sit at 6-5 on the season and 2-2 in the conference. The Utes lead the season series at 2-0 after picking up 4-1 and 6-2 wins in Oregon earlier this year. All time, the Utes are 7-1 against the Ducks with the lone loss coming in a shootout in Salt Lake last year. Alex Sulitzer leads the Ducks in scoring with 16 points on the year and is closely followed by newcomer Nick Sciabarra who has 15 points. Danny Cockriel is still between the pipes and has done well against the Utes so far this year. In the two games against the Utes, Cockriel has a .902 save percentage, giving up only 10 goals on over 100 shots in the two games combined. As for the Utes, Josh Dangel still leads the team in points, goals, and assists. Chris Komma has seen the most time in net and has a 2.30 GAA and a .930 save percentage. They also return home for the first time since October 11th after playing their last nine games on the road. The Utes went 6-3 in that span and are undefeated at home this year with a 6-0 record. Friday night’s game in Salt Lake City begins at 7pm and Saturday’s game will start at 8:30pm. Both games will be streamed live here.