October 9, 2014
Salt Lake City
The University of Utah Skatin’ Utes have started the season strong, rolling off wins over Utah State, Weber State, BYU, and Boise State to start the season with a 4-0 record. If the Utes want to continue their perfect record, they’ll have to go through the gauntlet and their toughest test ever at the 2014 ACHA Division II Showcase in Mentor, OH this weekend.
The appearance in the annual tournament marks the first ever trip to the showcase for Utah, as 18 of the top teams in the entire nation will battle it out over the three-day tournament. With Utah already going to Nationals with an automatic bid as host this year, the weekend gives the Utes a close-up look at what they’ll see when the nation’s best come to Salt Lake City in March.
Two of the four teams that Utah will face in the showcase made it to the postseason a year ago, and one of those teams has been a national powerhouse for several years in the ACHA.
The Utes will kick off the weekend on Friday as the Utes open up with the Toledo Rockets, who are members of the Southeast Region. Finishing 7th and losing in the regional finals in the Southeast Region last year, the Rockets are 1-2 so far in the early season, picking up a 10-2 win over Indiana and two losses against Grand Valley State 7-2 and 3-2.
On Saturday, the Utes take on the Central Division opponent that has bested Toledo twice already this season in the Grand Valley State Lakers. GVSU is one of the premier teams in the entire country, finishing first in the Central Region last year and has made it to the national championship game in three of the last four seasons, winning it all back in 2011. So far this season the Lakers have looked strong with a 4-0 record beating ACHA Division I opponent Rochester College 4-2 and 5-2 and beating Toledo twice last weekend.
On Sunday, Utah takes on another Central Division opponent in the Davenport Panthers. While the Panthers have been a powerhouse in the past, winning back-to-back-to-back national championships from 2008-2010, the team has struggled recently as they didn’t crack the top 15 in the division last season. The season remains optimistic for the Panthers though as this weekend’s games will be their first of the season. Add in the fact Davenport will play two games in one day on Saturday and this could be a favorable matchup for Utah.
But like the Panthers on Saturday, the Utes will have to play a second game on Sunday as the Utes wrap up the showcase with the Lindenwood-Belleville Lynx. Not to be confused with the Lindenwood Lions, one of the top teams in the nation and also playing in the showcase, the Lynx are a new team to the ACHA this year in their inaugural season. The team has seen early success in their first year as well as they also post perfect 4-0 record heading into the showcase. The Lynx have roughed up their competition so far, beating Saint Louis 6-0 and 7-2 and Missouri 9-0 and 8-1.
This weekend will be Utah’s toughest test of the season so far and will give the team a look at some of the top teams in the nation. Not only are the Utes taking on some of the competition, some of the big competitors in the ACHA (ASU Elite, Delaware, Lindenwood, Rowan, Southern Illinois, St. Cloud) will be playing in the showcase along with them and the Utes will be able to see them play over the weekend and help gauge their competition.
The Utes will also be faced with a time difference over the weekend as well. While most of the Utes’ games this season take place around 7pm MT, all four games this weekend will start before 3pm MT including a 10:30am MT game on Friday and an 8:30am MT game on Sunday.
The Utes are coming off a bye week after beating BYU and Boise State two weeks ago to move to 4-0 on the season. The Utes start the showcase at 12:30pm ET on Friday against Toledo. Saturday’s game against Grand Valley State starts at 3:45pm ET and Sunday’s games against Davenport and Lindenwood-Belleville start at 10:30am ET and 5:00pm ET respectively.
