A young team will make mistakes. Whether it can bounce back from those mistakes and still create wins is the tough part.

Unfortunately for the Cyclones, wins have been hard to come by in the past two series. Last week, Oklahoma swept the Cyclones. Friday, the Arizona State Sun Devils eked out a 3-2 victory over Iowa State. The Sun Devils completed their own two-game sweep of the Cyclones, shutting down the young squad 5-0 Saturday.

“This was a building weekend,” said senior goalie Erik Hudson. “They are more experienced, and we are a younger team. They had better defense and crisper passes.”

Even though an 8-2 scoring advantage for the Sun Devils in the series seems dominating, Iowa State had plenty of chances to score. The combination of veteran goaltending and mishandling of pucks prevented the Cyclones from cashing in on those chances.

“We had our chances, but just couldn’t capitalize on any,” said forward James Werner, who scored the only two goals of the series for Iowa State. “They were real competitive. We need to bear down and win games.”

The inability to convert on the power play plagued the Cyclones during the weekend. Iowa State had six opportunities on the power play and failed to score on any of them.

“Special teams were huge,” said senior forward Mike Lebler. “If we would have gone 1-for-4 on the power play Friday, that ties the game, that’s huge. I think the power play needs time to get everyone working with each other.”

Coach Al Murdoch also observed the inefficiency of special teams and had a simple answer.

“The power play needs work,” Murdoch said.

The Cyclones stayed out of the penalty box during Saturday’s contest, a sign of better discipline. Chemistry and puck handling is still a concern. Games against two tough teams gave the young team quite the task. Sophomore Justin Wilkinson understood the talent of the opposition.

“They were good competition. We need to get our confidence back,” Wilkinson said. “We are in a little bit of a slump right now. We keep coming up short.”

Stressing conditioning, Murdoch’s young team has shown it can win races to the puck and create scoring opportunities. This weekend Iowa State ran into a Sun Devil squad with good goaltending and a defense that was ready for the challenge.

“As I suspected, the competition gets tougher,” Murdoch said. “Friday night’s game could have gone either way, but Saturday Arizona State had the edge. They got a couple of good bounces.”

Murdoch’s squad is 3-5 on the year, with Davenport University coming into town next weekend. The coach understands his team’s position and what it needs to do to improve.

“We are not used to having five losses,” Murdoch said. “We will have to have four good days of practice.”

Hudson, who replaced starter Paul Karus in Saturday’s contest, knows the team has the talent to win but just needs to execute.

“We have to strike for the net and keep growing as a team,” Hudson said.

Before Friday’s game, ISU men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg had the honor of dropping the puck. Wearing a Cyclone hockey jersey with his name inscribed on the back, Hoiberg said he is excited about the basketball season and acknowledged the work of Murdoch.

“What’s great with all the coaches at Iowa State is how well they support all the athletic programs,” Hoiberg said. “Coach Murdoch has done a lot of great things for this program.”