Utah Stays Perfect

The Utah Skatin’ Utes continued their hot start to this year’s campaign as they picked up a pair of wins at home against BYU and Utah State.

Utah 8, BYU 1

The Utes opened up the weekend on Friday as the Utes played host to the BYU Cougars in game two of this year’s Holy War Series. The Utes wasted no time getting on the board as Andrew Wood, Caden Ottley, Michael Ahern, and Ryan Huras all scored to give Utah a 4-0 lead after one period of play. The Utes outshot the Cougars 26-8 and spent most of the period on the attack.

The second period was a repeat of the first as the Utes added four more to extend the lead to eight halfway through the second period. Wood scored his second of the game while Chase McDonald, Kurtis Kunz, and Josh Dangel added tallies for the Utes. The Utes once again outshot the Cougars Handily 27-4 and took an 8-0 lead into the third.

The Utes cruised in the final period as Utah closed out an 8-1 victory over BYU. Sophomore Devan Betts picked up his second win of the year and his third of his career, tallying 16 saves.

Scoring Summary:

1st Period
9:10 UTAH – Andrew Wood (2), Ben Seastrand (2)
11:15 UTAH – Caden Ottley (2), Chris York (2), Wood (1)
13:50 UTAH – Michael Ahern (1), Shaymus Bertagnolli (2)
16:37 UTAH – Ryan Huras (2), Tadas Tsibulskis (1)

2nd Period
1:41 UTAH – Chase McDonald (4), Josh Dangel (2), Colton McDonald (2)
2:43 UTAH – (Power Play) Kurtis Kunz (1), James Wilt (1), Douglas Newell (2)
4:59 UTAH – Andrew Wood (3), unassisted
10:26 UTAH – Josh Dangel (1), Kurtis Kunz (2)

3rd Period
18:45 BYU – Ryan Hoeke (1), David Gebert (1)

Utah 3, Utah State 1

On Saturday, the Utes welcomed Utah State to the Utah Ice Sheet for their first meeting of four this season. The Aggies finished last year with a #1 ranking in the West Division and went all the way to the national semifinals before losing to national champion Michigan State.

Utah State controlled most of the play in the first period as the Utes came out sluggish to start the game. The Aggies capitalized on the slow start as Riley Orr scored on the power play to give Utah State a 1-0 lead with 6:35 to go.

The score remained the same heading into the second period where the Aggies started to take penalties and Utah found life on the ice. On the power play, Ben Seastrand found an open Tadas Tsibulskis in front of the net which led to Tsibulskis’ first goal of the season and tied the game at one five minutes into the period.The Utes answered with another power play goal almost three minutes later as Ryan Huras fired a shot that beat Aggie goaltender Austin Willenborg to give Utah a 2-1 lead. That lead would hold as the Utes took a one goal lead to the third period.

In the third, rookie Andrew Wood kept his four-game point streak alive as he scored off a rebound to give Utah a 3-1 lead with 8:02 to go. The Utes were able to hold on down the stretch as the Aggies desperately tried to get back in the game but couldn’t find the back of the net. Utah outshot the Aggies 41-34 as rookie goaltender Chris Komma picked up 33 saves for his second win of the year.

Scoring Summary

1st Period
13:25 USU – (Power Play) Riley Orr (2), Cooper Limb (1), Ty Johns(1)

2nd Period
4:48 UTAH – (Power Play) Tadas Tsibulskis (1), Ben Seastrand (3), Douglas Newell (3)
7:33 UTAH – (Power Play) Ryan Huras (3), Josh Dangel (3), Colton McDonald (3)

3rd Period
11:58 UTAH – Andrew Wood (3), Ben Seastrand (4), Tadas Tsibulskis (2)

Utah now turns its focus to PAC-8 conference play as they play host to the California Golden Bears next Friday and Saturday at the Utah Ice Sheet.