Riding a wave of momentum from a 5–0 victory over Kent State the night before, Iowa State was knocked back on its heels to start the game as Ohio got the first goal on the board.

Things would not get any better as Ohio went on to beat the Cyclones 3–1 and eliminate them from the CSCHL tournament.

The Bobcats took a 1–0 lead at the 15:38 mark in the first period. The Cyclones gave up the puck in the Ohio attacking zone that led to an easy backhand in front of the net, beating junior goaltender Erik Hudson top shelf, glove side.

The Bobcats struck again at the 1:21 mark in the first period, getting a pass right in front of the net and again putting it past Hudson, allowing them to take a 2–0 lead into the second period.

Ohio picked up where it left off, going up 3–0 with 17:08 remaining in the second period. The Bobcats continued to find the open man and feed him the puck, and they capitalized on their chances.

That is something Iowa State hadn’t been able to do to that point.

As the second period continued, Iowa State continued to lose its composure as it sent three men to the penalty box in a two-minute span, giving the Bobcats a 5-on-3 advantage at the five-minute mark in the second period.

They were able to kill the penalty, but ended the second period in a 3–0 hole.

Iowa State held a slight shot advantage at 24–22 after two periods, but the Bobcats were sufficient in crowding the attacking zone.

“We didn’t execute very well tonight,” said coach Al Murdoch. “Ohio was sharper and crisper at both ends of the ice and the scoreboard shows that. They played like they wanted to win the game more than we did.”

As the third period continued, the Cyclones continued to throw their own penalty-box party, racking up more than 30 minutes worth of penalties by the 16:30 mark in the third period.

“We’re a team built on speed,” said junior forward Chris Mackay. “When we don’t have all our guys on the ice, it really takes us out of our game and out of our flow. We especially can’t have guys taking the kind of stupid penalties like we took tonight. We lost our poise out there.”

Freshman forward Derek Kohles finally gave the Cyclone crowd something to cheer about as he took the puck from Mackay and junior defenseman Pat Condon, putting it past the goaltender with 10:55 remaining in the third period.

This cut the Bobcat lead to 3–1, and the Cyclones would go on to lose by that score.

“It was good to finally get one on the board,” Kohles said. “It got a little adrenaline going, but it was so late in the game that we weren’t able to pull all the way back.”

This is the second straight year the Bobcats have eliminated the Cyclones from the CSCHL tournament and their third straight loss to them this season.

“They are a well-coached, defensive hockey team,” Murdoch said. “We’re not quite where we need to be yet, but we will be by the time nationals rolls around.”