Utah finally had the luxury of playing at home this week in a packed house against Mercer. The Utes were able to put up a record-breaking number of goals, a 23-9 routing of the Bears. After the non-conference slate, Utah is 4-3 and ended it on a high note.

23 goals and 35 points are both program records in what was an electric day for the Utes. Utah scored the most goals in a single game for an ASUN team this season and is fourth most nationally in the same category.

Additionally, Utah’s 12 assists are the most in a game for them this season, and 45 ground balls is the second-best all-time in program history.

Utah had 36 shots on goal and 58 overall compared to Mercer’s 31 total shots. The Utes held the Bears to 9 goals which is the lowest for an opponent this year.

Game Recap

The first quarter started off with a flurry of offensive activity led by two goals from Josh Rose as Utah would find itself up 3-0 quickly. Mercer would claw their way back but ultimately find themselves down 5-3 at the end of the first.

The second quarter would start off with a quick goal from the Bears to cut the Utes’ lead down to just one. Utah would respond affirmatively with a couple of goals of their own, one of which being an impressive cross-country goal from Rylan Lemons. Jordan Hyde would score three goals in this period to put the Utes up 11-7 going into the half.

Coming out of the break, Utah effectively put the game away with a quick goal followed by a 6-0 run to finish the third with an 18-8 lead.

The final quarter saw impressive play on defense as Zion Dechesere would make five saves just that quarter. Hyde, Jared Andreala, Tyler Schifko, Freddie DiMarzo and Cody Hart all scored goals in this period.

The school record was broken at the 11:30 mark when Schifko scored the 19^th goal of the day. The previous record was 18 against Westminster in 2021. Utah finished play with a 23-9 route of Mercer.

Stat Sheet

Hyde earned six goals that day, a career-high and the second-most all-time in a game for a Utah player. Josh Rose got six total points on the day with three goals and three assists. This was Rose’s first hat-trick to accompany three assists, also a career-high.

Josh Stout and Ruben Santana both scored two goals and an assist of their own. Stout picked up a grounder and Santana got three total ground balls. Branden Wilson also scored his first goal of the season in the contest.

Cole Brams had an incredible 17 groundballs, which is the most by an ASUN player and the fifth most in a game nationally. Brams also broke the program record for faceoff wins with 23.

Utah rotated a few different goalies through with Dechesere, Zack Johns, and Connor Hollison all getting time. Johns started and had two saves during his play, while Dechesere had seven saves with only two goals allowed. Hollison added two saves of his own late in the game which were his first in collegiate play.

Next Up

Utah will start its conference play next week against Air Force on April 2. It will be an away game with a 12 p.m. MDT start time.

The Utes will look to keep the momentum rolling against their first conference opponent next Sunday.

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