Barczewski Earns First Pro Win as Utah Defeats Rapid City 5-3
West Valley City, Utah – Jake Barczewski saved 27 of 30 to earn his first professional win and Neil Shea scored two goals to lead the Utah Grizzlies to a 5-3 victory over the Rapid City Rush on a Saturday night at Maverik Center.
Briley Wood got the Grizzlies on the board at 7:18 with a power play goal. Wood leads Utah with 4 power play goals on the season. Reed Lebster scored his 7th goal of the season 8:50 in. Bryan Yoon collected an assist in each of Utah’s first period goals. Rapid City got on the board as Deni Goure scored on a power play 14:43 into the contest. Utah led 2-1 after one period.
Utah forward Neil Shea scored his 11th of the season from the left wing 10:07 into the second period. Shea now has a goal in 9 of 11 games this season. 27 seconds later Rush captain Ryan Wagner scored his team leading 12th goal of the season to cut into Utah’s lead and make it a 3-2 game.
Utah’ Cole Gallant scored the eventual game winner 10:08 into the third period for his first goal of the campaign as Utah extended the lead to 4-2. Gallant leads Utah forwards with 15 assists on the season. Rush answered back 16 seconds later as Billy Constantinou scored from the left wing to make it a 4-3 game. Shea scored his second of the game and 12th goal of the season on an empty net 18:49 in. Shea has 12 goals in 11 games for Utah this season.
Reed Lebster had 1 goal and 1 assist for Utah in the victory. Keaton Mastrodonato, Andrew Nielsen and Bryan Yoon each had 2 assists.
Jake Barczewski’s first professional win comes in Utah’s last game of the 2024 calendar year. Barczewski won 64 games over a five-year college career. RC’s Matt Radomsky stopped 23 of 27 in the loss.
Utah went 1 for 3 on the power play. Rapid City was 1 for 2.
The Grizzlies begin the 2025 calendar year with a two-game series at Idaho on January 3-4, 2025. Face-off both nights is at 7:10 pm. The next home game for the Grizzlies is on January 10, 2025 vs Kansas City. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.
3 stars
- Cole Gallant (Utah) – 1 goal, +2, 3 shots.
- Neil Shea (Utah) – 2 goals, +1, 4 shots.
- Jake Barczewski (Utah) – 27 of 30 saves. First Professional Win.
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