Last Friday and Saturday night, the Ames/ISU Ice Arena played host to a pair of top-10 matchups. The No. 7 ISU hockey team split a two-game series against No. 9 Robert Morris (Ill.) in a weekend of highs and lows.

On Friday night, ISU forward J.P. Kascsak had a hat trick on his birthday in a 5-2 victory against the Eagles. With three goals Kascsak widened his lead as the team’s top scorer in both goals (21) and points (39). He also shares the lead in assists (18) with forward James Buttermore.

ISU coach Al Murdoch gave a lot of credit to his defensemen and goaltender Paul Karus in the victory.

“They took quite a few shots on us, but they were all shots from the outside,” Murdoch said. “Our defense is playing really well. Our defense is playing like they want to win a national championship.”

Going into the weekend, Robert Morris had only four losses on its record. All of the losses had occurred on Friday nights and they were avenged with Saturday night victories. On Saturday night the Cyclones couldn’t find a way to discontinue this trend as they were defeated by the Eagles 6-4.

The Cyclones took an early lead off a slap shot from defenseman Brandon Clark just 1:53 into the game and finished the first period tied at one. The Eagles took control of the game in the second period, however, with three consecutive goals against Karus in just under two minutes to take a 5-2 lead.

Saturday night was Karus’s fourth consecutive start. He had won the previous three. Murdoch, who has given Karus praise all season long, described his play on Saturday as just “average.”

“Maybe we just had a little bit of a mental lapse as a team, and they just capitalized on it,” Karus said. “They got the momentum with that first goal, and I think that they upped their level of pressure.”

Iowa State nearly made the comeback with a last second goal in the second period from Buttermore — his second of the night — and a goal from forward David Kurbatsky 11:20 into the third period. ISU forward Trevor Lloyd missed a penalty shot, which could have tied the game for the Cyclones late in the third period.

To help their case for the comeback, Karus shut the Eagles out in the third period, but the Eagles scored on the empty net with under a minute to go to seal the game.

Next weekend the Cyclones will be on the road to face No. 4 Lindenwood. Lindenwood swept the Cyclones in Ames earlier this season.