Coming off a big win against Utah Valley the Wildcats were confident and ready to take on their in-state rival, the University of Utah.

Despite a busy first period that included 19 shots on goal, the match was scoreless after twenty minutes.

The Utes then came out firing in the second period. Just past eight minutes into that second period the scoring had begun with Utah taking a 1-0 lead.

By the time the period came to a close Weber State was trailing 2-0 and the Utes had confidence on their side. In the third period the Wildcats showed that they had bite.

Just over a minute into the third it was sophomore Dakota Fox who put the Wildcats on the board, making the score 2-1 in favor of Utah. After Utah scored their third goal of the night, the fireworks really started.

With about five minutes left in the game, junior Jonathan Cosman took off his helmet after getting into a fight. For taking off his helmet, Cosman was ejected from the match.

By the time the it was over, Utah won the match 4-1 over Weber State.

In the second match of the weekend Weber State was defeated by UNLV 3-0.

Both teams came out mentally and physically ready to play. UNLV started off strong, keeping the puck on Weber’s end of the ice while controlling the momentum.

UNLV’s Victor Brask got the first goal 10 minutes into the first period, setting the pace and forcing Weber State to follow.

The Wildcats sent a few long shots from behind UNLV’s blue line, to no avail. Weber State ended the first period without any goals.

What Weber lacked in points, however, they made up with defensive saves. Perhaps the most heroic being Zak Tollett’s long dive to stop a UNLV player’s momentum and giving the Wildcats the puck back on offense.

After 18 seconds into the second period, UNLV sunk their second shot into the net, further establishing their lead and sobering Weber’s morale.

Both teams had players in the penalty boxes during the first two periods. The only difference was that UNLV often populated their end with two players at a time.

Although the penalty boxes remained empty during the third period, the tension increased even more when UNLV’s Dion Antisin scored the third goal of the night. Players on both sides were caught roughing, and sticks were flying.

“There was too much individual effort tonight,” said Weber State’s head coach Clay Hobbs.

Weber missed out on three obvious scoring opportunities during the game, the puck taunted players on the cusp of entering the goal.

Hobbs went on to say, “We’ve got guys who compete individually, and we got a group who won’t compete as a team.”

In the end, UNLV held their lead, defeating Weber 3-0.

“As soon as we start playing as a team we’ll be just fine,” said Hobbs.