PREVIEW: #12 Texas A&M D2 @ #24 Utah D1

November 12, 2016 Salt Lake City, UT The University of Utah Skatin’ Utes are back at home this weekend as they take on Texas A&M D2 Saturday at the Utah Ice Sheet. Tickets are still available. ABOUT THE SERIES: This is only the third time that Utah and Texas A&M have played each other in Utah’s history. Utah leads the all-time series 2-0 with the last meeting happening in 2014, when Utah beat Texas A&M 13-0 on the final day of the Beehive Showcase. This will be the first time that Texas A&M will visit the Utah Ice Sheet in their team’s history. ABOUT THE UTES: The Utes are coming off a 2-1 weekend in Buffalo, NY last week where they beat Buffalo and Canisius for their first two Division I wins in program history. The Utes now sit at 8-7 on the season. Utah fell one spot in the ACHA Division I rankings this week, dropping from 23 to 24 in the rankings released on Wednesday. The Utes are 6-0 this season against teams from Division II of the ACHA. ABOUT THE AGGIES: Texas A&M is in Utah this weekend for a three game series against the three northern teams in the state. This is also the first time this season that the Aggies have left the state of Texas, posting a 9-4 record against their in-state rivals so far. Their weekend began Thursday night in Ogden where they fell to Weber State 10-4 and now sit at 9-5 on the season. They’ll be in Logan Friday night to take on Utah State before playing the Utes on Saturday. The Aggies are ranked 12th in this week’s Division II computer rankings, which marks their first time being ranked this season. PLAYERS TO WATCH: FOR UTAH: Brett Myer continues to lead the Utes in points this season with 19, scoring four times and posting 15 assists on the season so far. Nick Fornelius is also near the top with 15 points. Rookie Alex King lead the team in goals this season with nine. Chris Komma will have the weekend off for the Utes in net, so the Utes will look to either Jared Manzella or Patrick Kasper to lead the way in net for Utah. Both tenders are 1-0 this season and both have .875 save percentage on the season. FOR TEXAS A&M: Huston Svondrk leads the Aggies in points with 25 so far this season and is joined at the top by Price Hernandez who has 24 points on the season. Both skaters lead the team in assists with 13 each, and Svondrk is tied with Chris Schultz for the team lead in goals with 12. Ethan Palmer has been the main guy in net for Texas A&M this season, posting an 8-2 record with a 3.90 GAA and .853 save percentage. Saturday night’s game at the Utah Ice Sheet is at 7:30pm MT. The game will be broadcasted live on Utah Hockey Game Day Live.