October 5, 2026
Salt Lake City, Utah
The University of Utah Skatin’ Utes (ACHA W1) opened up their homestand with a pair of wins against the Montana State Bobcats this past weekend.
On Friday, the Skatin’ Utes and Bobcats remained scoreless in the opening frame. It wasn’t until Utah’s captain Sonia Charman capitalized on a two-on-one opportunity early in the second period to give the Utes the early lead. Utah’s momentum continued when forward Ashley Paterson sent the puck top shelf to set the score at 2-0 in Utah’s favor. The Bobcats got on the scoreboard with a breakaway goal by MSU’s Grace Cheney on an Erin Gallagher pass in the final minute of play before going into second intermission. After 40 minutes of play, the Skatin’ Utes outshot the Bobcats 45 to 15.
Utah extended their lead in the third minute of the third period with a deflection by forward Hailey Merryweather off a Morgan LaValley pass. To give the Skatin’ Utes the insurance goal in their home-opener and make the score, 3-1. LaValley also recorded two assists on the afternoon on both Charman’s and Merryweather’s goals.
In the crease, Utah’s rookie netminder Lauren Barnum secured her first collegiate win in spectacular fashion. Barnum allowed one goal out of 22 shots and recorded a 0.955 save percentage.
On Saturday afternoon, Utah’s offense came out hot with three unanswered goals in the first period alone. At the second minute mark, Utah’s Charman set up in front of the net to chip the puck over the Bobcats’ goaltender to get the lead early for the Skatin’ Utes. Then, Utah’s Mckenna Lafluer sent one over the shoulder of the Bobcats’ goaltender to give the Utes a 2-0 edge over the Bobcats. Utah’s Madison Brent and Charman are credited with the assists.
The third goal of the first period came from Utah’s Ella Bynan off the power play. Bynan redirected the puck from LaValley’s shot to secure the 3-0 lead for the Utes after 20 minutes of play. Utah’s Madigan Nemke is also credited with the assist.
Montana State’s offense kicked in the second period when Bobcat’s Bekah Nickisch sent one over the Utah netminder at the second minute mark of the second period. However, the Utes were not fazed and answered back when Blakely Van Nest snuck the puck under the goaltender’s blocker for her first goal as a Skatin’ Ute. Utah’s Katherine Zeschuk and Brent recorded assists on the goal as well.
In the final frame, the Utes extended their lead to 5-1 against the Bobcats after Brent and Toni Alm connected in the third minute. The Bobcats couldn’t recover from Utah’s early offensive power and Utah secured the 5-1 victory, bringing their overall record to 4-1.
Barnum stayed in net for the Skatin’ Utes Saturday afternoon and collected another win. Barnum saved 12 shots, allowed one goal, and had a 0.923 save percentage on the afternoon.
In addition, multiple Skatin’ Utes ended up on the score sheet this weekend, including 10 different skaters in Saturday’s matchup against the Bobcats alone. Over the course of the series, the Skatin’ Utes outshot the Bobcats 114 to 35.
The Skating Utes will take on the Arizona Wildcats at home in a non-conference matchup at the Salt Lake Sports Complex on Oct. 16 at 4:30 pm MST and Oct. 17 at 1:30 pm MST. T
he game is set to be broadcast on the Utah Hockey YouTube page.
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