Riding on a wave of momentum, the Cyclones skated into Athens, Ohio this past weekend and hit a roadblock as they fell victim to a sweep at the hands of the Bobcats; 1-0 and 4-2.

The Bobcats’ goaltender was the goalie used for Team USA in the most recent World University Games and presented trouble for the Cyclones.

“I think, in every game we play, the goaltenders pick up their play against us and Ohio is no different,” said coach Al Murdoch.

Although the goaltenders pick up their play against the Cyclones, the team feels as if they need to get past that and keep moving forward.

“We ran into a hot goalie,” said Brad Krueger. “We got to stop using that as an excuse and stop having moral victories so we can come out on top on the scoreboard more often than we have been.”

The sweep moved the Cyclones record to 3-9 on the road this season. Despite this, Murdoch feels as if the team is still making steps forward.

“When it comes down to the end of the season, we’d rather be in the position of outshooting a team 47-24 and losing during the season and then winning in tournament play as opposed to winning that season game in a close one and then have that team come back and beat us in a close one,” Murdoch said.

While getting swept would put most team’s momentum at a much slower pace, it only fuels the Cyclones’ fire more as their next roadtrip will be at the ACHA nationals next month.

“If anything it just makes us want to work harder,” said Brady Irwin. “We all know this past weekend was disappointing so we know we have to work that much harder in practice. We’re coming into the homestretch of the season here, so we got to look forward and learn from our mistakes.”

The Cyclones’ road trips this season have included visits to Illinois, Ohio, Lindenwood, and an exhibition series at the University of Manitoba.

These are some of the more hostile environments in the nation and they feel as if they have put in good effort and overall played well on those trips.

Burying the puck, especially on the power play is something that Iowa State has been lacking in recent weeks.

“We just have to get more shots from inside the house,” Irwin said. “We need to get traffic in front of the net and capitalize on the power play chances. I think our power play is something that isn’t as sharp as we need it to be on the road and that’s what’s been killing us these past couple weekends.”