The Utah Skatin’ Utes opened their 2013-2014 season last weekend as the Utes took on in-state foes BYU and Weber State, picking up wins in both contests.
Utah 6, BYU 2:
The Road to Boston began last Friday as the Utes headed to Provo to take on the BYU Cougars for the first game of this year’s Holy War Series. Both teams battled hard early in the game until defenseman Ryan Huras found the back of the net on the power play to give the Utes a 1-0 lead with 8:44 to go in the first period. The Cougars would answer with a power play goal of their own just two minutes later as Tanner Billingsley scored off his own rebound to knot the game at one. With just over three minutes to go in the first, the Utes added another power play goal as captain Colton McDonald beat BYU goaltender Jared Bussell to give the Utes a 2-1 lead going into the second period.
In the second, the Utes wasted no time getting on the board as Chase McDonald scored 44 seconds into the period. Utah would add another with 11:18 to go as Caden Ottley snuck one under Bussell to give the Utes a 4-1 lead. The score remained the same until Zeph Fagergren scored a shorthanded goal with 4:49 to go as Bussell mishandled the puck behind the net which gave Fagergren an empty net to shoot at. The two players collided as the puck went in, and Fagergren had to leave the game after suffering a lower body injury from the collision. Andrew Wood Scored his first collegiate goal off the pass from Ottley with 2:23 left to put the Utes up 6-1 going into the third period. Nick Bartholomew would add a goal halfway though the third for the Cougars to make it 6-2 before the final buzzer sounded.
Six different Utes scored as the Utes (1-0) won their 14th straight game against BYU (0-2) and lead the four-game series 1-0. Sophomore goaltender Devan Betts was solid in net stopping 20 of 22 shots to move his perfect record to 3-0 as a Ute, including some big saves in the second period to preserve the Utes lead. The Utes and Cougars meet again on Friday in Salt Lake City for game two of the season-long series.
Utah 4, Weber State 1:
After Friday night’s win the Utes returned to Salt Lake City for their first home game of the season, taking on the Weber State Wildcats. The contest featured three players that finished in the top 10 in the nation in points last year (Chase McDonald for Utah, Dax Hobbs and Braxton Green for WSU) and showcased two of the top teams in the ACHA West Division.
Both teams got into penalty trouble early with both teams taking a penalty in the first three minutes of the game. The Utes would go on to take the next five penalties in a span of two minutes that put the Wildcats on an extended power play for most of the first period. The Utes were able to kill off the penalties thanks to the stellar play of rookie goaltender Chris Komma. The Wildcats looked to have taken the lead with just under six minutes to go in the period, but the goal was disallowed after the officials ruled it was kicked in by Wildcat Alex Pizzaro. The Wildcats controlled the first period, outshooting the Utes 27-11 but the score remained 0-0 going into the second. Utes Beau Bertagnolli and Josh Dangel were ejected in the first after Bertagnolli received a five-minute major and game misconduct for checking from behind halfway through the first period. Dangel was ejected after taking a slashing call and received a game misconduct and ejection for Unsportsmanlike conduct.
Tempers seemed to cool down in the second period as only one penalty was called on each side. The Wildcats opened the scoring seven minutes in as Josh Giudice beat Komma right in front of the net to give Weber State a 1-0 lead. The Utes would answer with a goal of their own with 6:29 to go as Chase McDonald scored his second goal of the season off a rebound in front of Wildcat goaltender Ian Frank to tie the game at 1-1. The Utes would find the net once more in the second as Shaymus Bertagnolli put in another rebound goal to give the Utes the lead with 2:51 to go in the second period. Shots were relatively even in the second, as the Wildcats outshot the Utes 19-16.
As the game headed to the third period, tempers flared up once again as Josh Guidice and Phill Jennrich for the Wildcats were ejected just three minutes into the period. Jennrich received a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct after disputing a tripping call on Wildcat defender Jake Webber. With 12 minutes to go, Chase McDonald scored his second goal of the game as he slid the puck underneath Frank on the power play to extend the Utes lead to 3-1. The Wildcats tried to answer back including a 6 on 3 power play for the final minute of the game. But once again the Utes defense held and added an empty net goal by Shaymus Bertagnolli with :04 seconds left to give Utah a 4-1 victory.
With the win the Utes move to 2-0 on the season as the Wildcats fall to 2-1 on the year. Utah was able to pick up the win despite being outshot 54 to 39 by the Wildcats. Guidice was the only one to receive a disqualification in the game and will miss Weber State’s next game as they head to Arizona State this weekend. Chris Komma had a superb debut for the Utes stopping 53 of 54 shots to pick up his first collegiate hockey win.
The Utes remain at home this weekend as they play host to BYU and Utah State Friday and Saturday night respectively. Tickets for both games are still available here.
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