December 1, 2014
Salt Lake City, Utah
The second of four ACHA rankings were released on Monday and the Utah Skatin’ Utes held on to their position at number three in the West Division as we hit the halfway point of the season.
The Utes finished the second ranking period with a 6-4 record after going 10-3-1 in the first ranking period. The Utes now sit with a 16-7-1 record on the season. All of Utah’s losses in the ranking period were to top ten teams, which helped them keep their position in the second rankings.
Taking the top spot and all first place votes in the West is Arizona State’s Elite squad (15-2), who came back to beat Utah 4-3 last weekend in the Beehive Showcase. Also ahead of Utah at number two is Northern Arizona (15-3-1), who beat Utah 5-2 in the showcase last weekend.
Rounding out the top five is Boise State (16-1) and Montana Tech (13-3) as the top five remained unchanged from the first ACHA rankings.
At number six in the poll is San Jose State (9-8) who jumped up two spots despite going 3-4 in the ranking period. At number seven is Arizona State’s PAC 8 team (11-5-2) who jumped up three spots in the poll, largely in part to their 3-0 win over Utah during the ranking period.
Weber State (5-13-1) stays in the top ten at number eight after falling one spot in the poll and Utah State (4-12) is number nine, falling three spots in the rankings. Loyola Marymount (8-6-2) fell one spot to round out the top ten that would qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today.
On the outside looking in at the top ten are three California teams as Cal State Long Beach (8-5-2), Cal State Fullerton (9-9), and Cal State Northridge (11-6) take the 11, 12, and 13 spots in the poll. Rounding out the top 15 are San Diego State (9-5) and Denver (6-7), who makes its first appearance in the rankings this season.
Texas A&M, North Texas, Dallas Baptist, USC, and UNLV all also received votes in the poll.
Despite not moving up the in the polls, the third place ranking is the highest ever for Utah in club history for the second ACHA Rankings. The previous record was set last year when Utah appeared at number four in the second edition of the monthly poll.
The Utes have three games in the third ranking period, as they head to Seattle to take on Washington this weekend and then return home for a game against BYU before the Holiday break.
