The No. 10 ISU hockey team has had only one road trip so far this season. Its second road trip is this weekend as it travels to Bloomington, Ind., for a pair of Central State Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) games against the Indiana University Hoosiers.

Last weekend, the Cyclones (8-5-1) split the CSCHL series against No. 9 Illinois in Ames, losing on Friday night but bounced back and won on Saturday night.

The Hoosiers (6-3-0) swept Youngstown State last weekend in two blowout games. The Hoosiers won on Friday 12-1 and followed that up with a 15-1 win on Saturday.

ISU forward Austin Parle has been out with tonsillitis but is back to practice this week, and Murdoch said that he will be “ready to go for at least one of the two games this weekend, if not both.”

ISU forward Derek Kohles took a “pretty good shot to the foot” while blocking a shot on a penalty kill last weekend but hasn’t missed any practice this week and says he doesn’t anticipate missing any time this weekend.

“It’s tough to battle through, but it’s getting better,” Kohles said. “I’ve still been going to practices and workouts and everything and haven’t taken a day or a shift off.”

This week in practice, Murdoch has been stressing that the players need to hit the net with their shots during their drills.

“When guys are ringing it off the plexiglass, that’s not practicing… You play the way you practice,” Murdoch said. “When it bounces off their stick, the way they practice is the way they’ll play.”

Despite the tough schedule they’ve had the past few weeks against ranked opponents, the Cyclones won’t be taking the Hoosiers lightly, especially after splitting with them on the road last season.

The Cyclones face the Hoosiers at the Frank Southern Ice Arena in Bloomington, Ind., at 8:25 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.