Outliers vs Mustangs weekend recap

The Utah Outliers just finished their opening weekend against their closest rivals, the Ogden Mustangs. The Outliers entered Friday’s game with a clean 0-0-0 2017-18 WSHL record, while the Mustangs were 2-1-0 after their opening series with the Colorado Jr. Eagles. 

Friday, September 29th 

Ogden opened the scoring, with the Mustang’s Sage Fleming leading the charge in the early minutes of the first period. Ogden added to their lead with a goal by Rhett Rampinelli at 15:34 in the first. A mere five minutes later, Rampinelli netted his second tally of the night, putting the Mustangs up 3-0 in the first half of the first period. Jacob Wanstrom broke the Outliers scoring drought, netting one at the six-minute mark, assisted by Dylan Massie and Gianni Vitali. With 24 seconds left in the first period, Kane Toriumi capitalized on a power play to cut the Mustangs lead in half, assisted by Viktor Burman and Zack Hoffman.

The Outliers entered the second period trailing the Mustangs 3-2, and the lead was extended to 4-2, thirty seconds into the second period, with Ogden’s Matus Spodniak getting the tally. Ogden’s Ross Bartlett found the back of the net a few minutes later to extend the lead to 5-2 Mustangs. Late in the period, the Outliers began to chip away at the Mustang’s lead, with a goal coming from Oskar Ancitis, assisted by Christian Bundschuh, with three minutes left in the period. Zack Hoffman picked up a rebound a minute later, finishing on a chance that was brought on by a 2-on-1 from his teammates Brandon Krumpschmid and Gianni Vitali. 

The Outliers entered the third period trailing the Mustangs by a score of 5-4. Despite action up and down the ice, the score remained the same until late in the third period. Ogden reclaimed their two-goal lead, with Ross Bartlett adding his second goal of the night. With a minute left, Roman Svik broke off the rush and sent a rocket to the net, beating the Mustang’s goaltender. He was assisted by Hoffman and Krumpschmid. 

The Outliers could not complete the comeback, and fell just short losing to the Mustangs 6-5 in the season opener. Zack Hoffman finished his first game in the WSHL with a team-high 3 points. Shots were 29-57, favoring the Mustangs. Goaltender Dawson Rodin made 51 saves. 

Saturday, September 30th 

Coming off the loss from Friday, the Outliers were ready to play. Brandon Krumpschmid led the charge, placing a beautiful shot past goaltender Oliver Marslatt three minutes into the game. He was assisted by Kaeden Meuer and Zack Hoffman. The Outliers doubled their lead at the 15-minute mark, with Krumpschmid adding another tally, assisted by Bogdan Khavtov and Gianni Vitali. 

The Outliers entered the second period up 2-0. The period was filled with hits and chances on both sides, but the score remained unchanged. Ogden added their first goal to the board, with Matt Mcclelland sending one past Outliers goaltender Dawson Rodin with 4 minutes left in the second. The Mustangs tied the game with a minute remaining in the second period, with Ian Currie capitalizing on a power play opportunity. 

The third period saw more back and forth action, with both teams fighting to add the go-ahead-goal and take the lead but both goaltenders on each team continued to shine and deny chances to keep the game even. With just over a minute left in the game, Brandon Krumpschmid completed his hat trick on a beautiful, top-shelf backhand, with assists coming from Dylan Massie and Gianni Vitali. Ogden pulled goaltender Marslatt, but the Outliers defense held off the Mustangs for a 3-2 win. 

The Outliers showed a gritty performance and a lot of character by bouncing back Saturday night to even the weekend series with a win. The team once again received solid goaltending from Rodin and a clutch offensive performance by the line of Vitali, Krumpschmid and Massie. 

The Utah Outliers are back in action this coming weekend, traveling for a series against the Colorado Jr. Eagles. Games are Friday, October 6th at 7:45 pm, Saturday, October 7th at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, October 8th at 12:00 pm. All games will be played at NOCO Ice Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. 

By Carly Tashman