They’ll be trying to win both games this weekend, but it won’t be easy on the road and at an arena with a sheet of ice that isn’t a typical size.

The ISU hockey team plays a two-game set this Friday and Saturday in Campaign, Ill., at the University of Illinois Ice Rink, also known as “The Big Pond.”

The Big Pond has a sheet of ice that is 195 feet by 115 feet, according to the Daily Illini. The standard NHL rink size, used by most ACHA teams is 200 feet by 85 feet. That makes Illinois’ sheet of ice 5 feet shorter and 30 feet wider than most rinks in the country.

ISU Coach Al Murdoch said their faster players like forward Austin Parle will use the larger ice size to their advantage.

“He’s playing very well, and I think he’s going to find that the big ice is conducive to his kind of play,” Murdoch said. “Along with J.P. Kascsak, they’ve got good speed. They’ve got a strong stride; the big ice will be perfect for them.”

Parle scored the first goal for the Cyclones in both games last weekend against Ohio and has 10 points (7 goals, 3 assists) in 15 games this season. Kascsak is the Cyclones’ second-leading scorer with 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 29 games this season.

Last season, the Cyclones swept Illinois in Champaign with a 4-2 victory in the first game and a 2-1 win in the second.

The Cyclones split a two-game series in Ames earlier this season with a 6-4 loss in game one and a 5-3 win in game two. ISU Forward and Alternate Captain Mark Huber had four points (3 goals, 1 assist) that weekend against Illinois. He also had a goal in one game in Champaign last season.

“They’re a really quick team,” Huber said. “Especially playing at their barn this weekend, their big ice. They’re going to know how to play on it. So we’re going to just really have to be careful and be ready for their big sheet of ice this weekend.”

Huber said one of the keys to getting ready for the sheet of ice at Illinois is to have players stay wider to the outside in drills than they normally would and not cut to the middle.

“With all that open ice this weekend, if we cut to the middle, we’re going to get burned on the outside,” Huber said.

The Cyclones face off against the Illini at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the University of Illinois Ice Arena in Champaign, Ill.