Quick Look: Utah Outliers

Yesterday we took a quick look at the Ogden Mustangs. Now, we shift our focus to their season opening rival, the Utah Outliers. 

The Outliers did well in claiming the regular season Mountain Division race against their in-state rivals. Utah had the edge in what was a tight tilt all season long and made the playoffs with a 39-11-1 record to total 79 points—Just two more than Ogden.

In total, the Outliers scored 190 more goals than they did receive goals (290GF/100GA). That type of production was the product of at least 10 players who saw 15 goals or more in the season.

“We really didn’t have to make many adjustments through out the better half of the season,” Head Coach Paul Taylor said. “Our goals were by committee, I mean, we relied on so many guys.”

(Photo taken by Mark Mauno) 

The potency of the offense tapered away down the stretch but everyone was firing on all cylinders. A lot of the success can be attributed to goaltender Dawson Rodin. The towering 6’4”, 236-pound native of Chilliwack, British Columbia played in 32 games securing a .932 save percentage and 1.96 goals against average.

Unlike last season, the position between the pipes is not set-in-stone.

“I know we will have a strong presence in goal but the goalies need to assert themselves this year to see who will earn the most games,” Coach Taylor said. “It’s going to be a competitive battle.”

Coach Taylor will be able to continue working with key returners in Benji Mickel (11-15-26), Kayden Meuer (15-23-38), Christian Bundschuh (2-19-21), Philip Rodhe Magni (1-2-3) and Brad McCloskey (0-6-6).

“We expect to be a similar team as last year in that we plan to use our depth as a factor to success,” said Coach Taylor. “A good offensive punch a long with solid defense. Our goal is to be competitive every night and against the best teams.”

The likely goal for this year is to establish themselves as the top team in the league and take the division.

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