For most of this season, it seemed that the goalie competition was between two people. Now, it’s between three.

ISU goaltender Matt Cooper has started the last three games for the No. 13 ISU hockey team against No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Lindenwood. The Cyclones are 3-0 in their most recent games with Cooper as their starting goalie.

In six starts for the Cyclones, Cooper is 6-0 and has a .943 save percentage. Scott Ismond has played in 19 games this season with an 8-8 record and a .913 save percentage while Paul Karus is 7-7 in 16 games played with a .899 save percentage.

Cooper only allows 1.22 goals per game on average, while Ismond’s average is 2.79 and Karus’s is 2.92.

Karus said despite the three-way competition, he holds no grudges against Cooper or Ismond.

“Goalie is singlehandedly probably the toughest position on the ice because of the fact that there’s only one of you that plays in the net at a given time,” Karus said. “If a guy gets hot or if he’s playing well or we’ve adjusted some things, and all of the sudden we’re picking up the pace … and he’s playing well, you’ve got to give it to him.”

Cooper said he likes having the competition in practice.

“I like it because you’re trying to be your best every day and trying to show the team what you have and what you can bring to the table to help the team out every weekend,” Cooper said.

Ismond said Cooper is on a roll and has something that he and Karus don’t have.

“He’s beaten Lindenwood. That’s the first time that our team’s beaten Lindenwood in — I think — about four years,” Ismond said. “That was also our first sweep of a Division I team.”

This weekend, the Cyclones will play No. 4 Robert Morris (Ill.) in the first round of the CSCL Tournament.