November 20, 2013
Salt Lake City, UT
After wrapping up the PAC-8 North Division last weekend against the Oregon Ducks, the Utah Skatin’ Utes now turn their attention to best of the west as they take part in the Beehive Showcase this weekend in Logan and Ogden.
The showcase features some of the top teams in the ACHA West Division with #2 Northern Arizona, #4 Utah State, #5 Weber State, #9 San Jose State, and #15 Montana Tech joining the third-ranked Utes in this four-game weekend starting on Thursday and ending on Sunday. Boise State and BYU are also participating.
The Utes will open up the showcase in Logan on Thursday as they take on the ninth-ranked San Jose State Spartans. The Spartans come in with a 9-2 record and are coming off a 2-1 showing in the Best of the West Showcase in San Jose two weeks ago where they knocked off #2 NAU 7-5. This game not only has top ten implications for Utah, but the Utes will be looking for revenge as SJSU swept the Utes last year three games to none, which significanlty hurt their ranking last year.
Overall, San Jose leads the all-time record seven games to two, but the Utes and Spartans have swept each other the past two years (utah went 2-0 in 2011, SJSU went 3-0 in 2012). Thursday’s game starts at 4pm at the Eccles Ice Center in Logan.
On Friday the Utes head to Ogden for the first meeting of the year betwen Utah and Boise State. The Utes and Broncos haven’t played since 2011 when the Utes beat the Broncos 14-1 in Salt Lake City. BSU is 4-4 this season and is coming off 3-2 and 5-3 wins over BYU two weeks ago. The Broncos are on the outside looking in at the top 15 in the West, but a good showing this weekend could propel them into the next ranking.
The Utes lead this series with an all-time record of 12 games to 4 against the Broncos. Boise State has also never beaten Utah in the state of Utah. Friday afternoon’s game is at noon at the Weber County Sports Complex.
Utah heads back to Logan on Saturday for the first ever matchup against #15 Montana Tech. The Orediggers come in as the only undefeated team left in the West with a perfect 6-0 record. They are coming off 4-3 and 7-1 wins over Wyoming’s Division III team as well as their first ranking in club history at number 15.
The Utes and Orediggers have never played one another so both teams will be looking to make a statement in this game. Saturday’s game at the Eccles Ice Center starts at 4pm.
After three games in as many days, the Utes will finish up the weekend with its biggest game of the week against #2 Northern Arizona on Sunday.
The Icejacks have hit a skid as of late losing five of their last eight games and now sit at 9-10 on the season. But don’t let the record fool you, as NAU is the only team to beat #1 Arizona State this year. NAU is coming off 4-2 and 4-1 wins over #6 San Diego State last weekend and are looking to keep the wins coming.
The Utes and Icejacks have met only twice in the regular season, with NAU winning both games in Arizona. These two teams have met twice in the postseason as well, with NAU beating Utah in the 2012 Regional final to go to nationals and Utah beating NAU in last year’s opening round at Regionals. A win for Utah over the Icejacks would be a big boost for their strength of schedule.
Sunday morning’s game in Ogden will start at 9:30am.
This is the fourth year that the Utes have participated in this event. All time, the Utes are 5-4 in showcase games with their best showing happening in the 2011-2012 season when they 3-1 in the Beehive Showcase. This weekend will be the toughest test yet for the Utes as they have only played two teams that are ranked in the top ten so far this season (Utah State and Weber State).
The Utes are back on track after beating Oregon 9-0 and 5-0 at home last weekend and will look to keep their shutout streak going after the back to back shutouts. They’ll look to extend their win streak with an impressive showing this weekend.
All four games will be broadcasted here.
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