November 24, 2014
Salt Lake City, UT
The #3 Utah Skatin’ Utes took on some of the best teams in the ACHA West Division as they participated in the Beehive Showcase for the fifth time in school history last weekend in Ogden and Logan.
For the third time, the Utes spilt the weekend going 2-2 in the four-game weekend as they took on three of the top five teams in the West Division.
On Thursday the Utes played #2 Northern Arizona for their first and only matchup of the season. After a back and forth start to the game that saw both teams get on the board early, NAU was able to find the back of the net two more times to take a 3-1 lead into the second period.
In the middle frame the Utes found momentum, as they were able to get one back on the Icejacks but still trailed NAU 3-2 heading into the third period. But too many defensive mistakes in the final period cost the Utes two more goals as they fell to Northern Arizona 5-2 top open up the showcase.
The Utes looked to bounce back from Thursday’s loss on Friday as they took on #5 Montana Tech, which upset and handed #1 Arizona State Elite its first loss against a West Division opponent.
The Utes came out flying against the Orediggers, scoring four times in the opening period to take 4-0 lead into the first intermission. After a power play goal Montana Tech halfway through the second, the Utes added two more before the period ended and led 6-1 heading into the third period.
Utah added two more in the third and beat the Orediggers 8-2 in an overwhelming victory for the Utes. Utah outshot Montana Tech 52-32 in the game and scored four goals on the power play in the game. Chris Komma picked up win number 12 on the season, stopping 30 of 32 shots.
With one victory in hand already, the Utes looked to do what Montana Tech did on Thursday and upset #1 Arizona State Elite on Saturday.
The Utes looked like they were going to do just that as they scored just two and a half minutes in to take 1-0 lead. ASU was able to tie the game back up with a power play goal with 12:24 left in the period, but the Utes scored two more times late to lead the #1 team in West 3-1 after the first period. The three Utah goals in the first period were the most allowed in one period by ASU since early October, when ASU gave up four in one period against Toledo in the ACHA Showcase in Ohio.
After the second period saw ASU get one goal back from Utah, the Sun Devils found the game-tying goal with 7:17 left in the third period to tie the game at 3-3. The game looked as if it would go to overtime, but ASU scored the game winner with 2:34 left to win 4-3 against the Utes. Utah was outshot 38-25 in the game, where Komma had 34 saves in the loss.
On Sunday morning, the Utes looked for win number two against unranked Texas A&M, which lost their first three games of the weekend. As expected, the Utes dominated from the opening faceoff outshooting the Aggies 20-3 in the first period and led 3-0 heading into the second period. The Utes added ten more on the board and beat Texas A&M 13-0.
The Utes outshot the Aggies 55-22 in the game as three different players scored two goals in the game. Komma was able to pick up his third shutout of the season and fifth of his career, stopping all 22 shots for his 13th win of the season.
Utah now sits at 15-7-1 on the season as they only have three games left before the team is off for the holiday break. The Utes now shift back to PAC 8 Conference play as they head to Seattle this weekend to take on Washington for a pair of games Friday and Saturday.
