September 29, 2014
Salt Lake City, UT
After starting the season with a pair of wins at home, the University of Utah Skatin’ Utes hit the road and picked up two more wins against West division opponents.
On Friday, the Utes paid their first visit to Provo this season to take on the BYU Cougars. The Utes had won 17 straight against the Cougars and the team made sure it would be 18 in a row when the night was over.
The Utes wasted no time getting on the board once again this season as Chase McDonald, Shaymus Bertagnolli, Beau Bertagnolli, and Andrew Wood all found the back of the net in the first period as the Utes took a 4-0 lead over their rivals heading into the second period.
After a second period that saw the Utes out-shoot the Cougars 35-7 but score no goals, Utah would add another in the third as David Barnes scored his first collegiate goal to make it 5-0 in favor of Utah. After a late BYU goal Beau Bertagnolli would score his second of the night and the Utes would cruise to a 6-1 win over BYU.
The win marks the 18th straight win over BYU for Utah and gives the Utes an early 1-0 lead in this year’s Holy War Series where the Utes have won four straight titles. The Utes outshot the Cougars 68-18 in the contest and goaltender Devan Betts picked up his first win of the season in his first appearance, stopping 17 of 18 shots.
On Saturday the Utes headed north to Idaho to take on a strong Boise State Broncos squad that finished one spot behind them in the final ACHA West Rankings last season.
Boise State struck first in the opening period to take a 1-0 lead but shortly after the opening goal the Utes answered with a goal of their own as Kurtis Kunz scored to tie the game at 1-1. Before the period ended the Utes would score once more, this time as Shaymus Bertagnolli put in a rebound goal to give the Utes a 2-1 lead heading into the second.
In the middle frame the Utes scored again as Julian Cronan lit the lamp to give Utah a two goal cushion. The Utes would hold on to that lead until late in the third period when the Broncos threw everything but the kitchen sink at Utah and found a 6 on 4 goal to cut the lead to 3-2.
The Broncos would try once again to pull their goalie for an extra attacker to try and even the score, but this time Michael Ahern found the empty net to seal the 4-2 win for Utah.
The Utes were outshot in the contest 42-41 in what was arguably their toughest test of the season so far. Chris Komma was solid in net once again for the Utes stopping 40 of 42 shots including several breakaway attempts from the Broncos for his third win of the season.
With the pair of road wins this past weekend, the Utes are now 4-0 on the season, making it two straight years where the Utes have started at least 4-0 to start the season (Utah won 11 straight to open last season).
The Utes now have a week off to get ready for the ACHA Division II Showcase in Mentor, OH which kicks off on October 10th.
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