For Family Weekend, the Cyclone hockey team hosted the Oklahoma Sooners and lost both matchups. Both Friday and Saturday night games ended with the final score 4-3 in favor of the visitors.

Friday night’s game was full of aggression and penalties from both teams.

“There was a lot of emotion in this game. We are learning to control the emotion, and learning a few things about penalties,” said ISU coach Al Murdoch.

During the first period, both teams were unable to get past the other’s defense. The Cyclones were rough handling the puck, but their strong defense kept the Sooners from scoring.

The second period shook off defense and became a completely different game. Six minutes into the period, the Cyclones put numbers on the board when freshman forward Chris Cucullu scored against Sooner goalie Matt Pombo on the power play.

Shortly after the Cyclones scored, the shower of penalties began. There was a fight on the ice that resulted in three penalties for the Cyclones, including one of the five-minute variety for freshman defenseman Shawn Crawford. The Sooners also received a penalty for cross checking.

With three of the Cyclone players in the penalty box, the Sooners were able to score back-to-back goals, which gave them the lead.

More penalties given to the Cyclones let the Sooners score once again before Iowa State was back at full strength with less than eight minutes left in the second period. Once at full strength, the Cyclones were able to set up the power play, and senior forward Matt Cohn made his shot, and Iowa State ended the second period trailing 3-2.

In the last period of the game, each team traded one more goal, leaving the final score at 4-3 Sooners.

 “Our team is improving a lot, and each game we are getting a lot better,” said ISU freshman Jake Flynn.

Saturday night, the Cyclones couldn’t manage to change their Friday night fate and lost by the same score.

After a scoreless first, with the Cyclones stopping all six shots and the Sooners stopping all 10 shots, Sooner forward Travis McKinney scored and gave Oklahoma the lead in the middle of the second period. Shortly after, Flynn scored the first goal for the Cyclones.

The Sooners then scored two goals against sophomore goalie Paul Karus. The Cyclones came back determined to score a goal, and Flynn added another, bringing the Cyclones within one. The third period began with a score of 3-2, just as it had the night before.

One minute into the last period, the Cyclones tied up the game with an unassisted goal by senior forward Cort Bulloch.

A slew of penalties and an unfortunate bounce of the puck let the Sooners score the final goal of the game, leaving the final score at 4-3.

“We had the best chance of winning [Saturday] between the two games, but there was the fluke goal,” Karus said.

Although the Cyclones lost both games this weekend, they are still improving as a team.

“I think that we did pretty good against Oklahoma. They are a darn good team, and we are a young team that is still continuing to grow,” Murdoch said.

Next weekend, the Cyclones will host Arizona State University for a pair of games, and both start times are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.