OGDEN — The Ogden Mustangs lost two games to the Utah Outliers to conclude the 2023-24 NCDC regular season and held an appreciation to its billet families.

The Outliers defeated the Mustangs 3-2 at the Acord Ice Arena on Friday in West Valley City and then defeated the Mustangs 3-0 on Saturday at the Ogden Ice Sheet. Ogden finishes the regular season 37-12-3 and in first place in the NCDC Mountain Division.

In West Valley, the Outliers started the game hot with two first-period goals from Ryan Cooper. The ‘Stangs first goal was from Parker Osborn and was assisted by Brody Simko. Jentzen Kaebel helped the Outliers secure a 3-1 lead over the Mustangs with eight minutes remaining in the third period. Ogden secured a late consolation goal with five seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one.

Ahead of Saturday’s game in Ogden, the Mustangs hosted an appreciation night for the billet families who support the team each year. The billeting experience, which involves players staying with local families, is crucial for providing a stable off-ice environment for players, many of whom are away from home for the first time. The organization encourages families to become billet families to support the players and make a difference in their lives.

“We spend our time trying to find families who want to house players and who want to know what this experience is all about. Our goal here is to match a family with what is best oriented for the player. After doing this for the past two years, it’s been an amazing experience,” said Laura Smith, the team’s billet coordinator.

At the Ice Sheet, the game started with a defensive battle with the first goal coming with 40 seconds left in the second period. The Outliers struck first with a goal from Connor Mariner.

It was all the Outliers from there as they secured two more goals in the third period, Bailey Ewonus with the second goal of the night and Ryan Cooper with the third.

After the two-game finale, Ogden still topped the table and led all of the NCDC Tier-2 teams in goals scored with a total of 195 goals for and 125 goals against.

“It’s been a great season. After winning the regular season championship it shows others what kind of group we have and how we can be consistent,” head coach Kenny Orlando said. “The team has done a great job as far as listening to what we’re giving them and adjusting accordingly, they’re going out there every day with new information and figuring out how to process it.”

The Mustangs cleared the Outliers by 2 points in the standings. Ogden will start its NCDC postseason with a best-of-five series against the Idaho Falls Spud Kings. The Mustangs host games at 7:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday to start the series. Game 3 is in Idaho Falls, as is Game 4 if necessary. If needed, the fifth game would be in Ogden.

Newsletter