The No. 6 Iowa State hockey team is looking to rebound this weekend after a bump in the road last week. The Cyclones will face No. 15 Michigan-Dearborn on the road 7:30 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday.

The Cyclones went into winter break as hot as they’d been all season. Iowa State had just came off a huge sweep over Iowa and looked solid. Last weekend the Cyclones returned to action against No. 20 Western Michigan and came away with a split.

“They made me a little nervous last week,” said coach Al Murdoch. “They looked a little slow after the three week break. I think as we get more conditioned, we will be more consistent.”

Consistency has also been a weak spot this season for the Cyclones. There have been times Iowa State looked unbeatable and then would turn around and lose a game to a lower ranked team.

With the Central States Collegiate Hockey Leage tournament nearly a month away, the Cyclones will have to improve on that part of their game.

“We definitely took it up a notch this week,” said goalie Paul Karus. “We are looking to continue what we have here into the playoffs.”

Murdoch really emphasized the importance of being a well-conditioned team this week in practice as well. He had the team focus on getting back to the way they were before break, playing with an extremely physical style of play.

“From last weekend, it’s all up,” Karus said. “We’re definitely going to improve, but it’s just the little things that we have to do now in order to improve.”

Michigan-Dearborn comes into the weekend series with a 13-9-3 record. Iowa State swept the Wolves on the road with a 4-3 and 4-1 victories last season, but Coach Murdoch believes they are just as good and possibly better.

Before the break, the Iowa State goaltenders were playing their best hockey so far. Junior Eric Hudson recorded four shutouts up to that point in the season. Karus had been coming on late as well.

The Cyclones picked up a 6-3 win last Friday anchored by Karus. The freshman saved 29 of 32 Western Michigan shots and came off the bench on Saturday and saved nine out of 10 shots.

Karus has yet to record a shutout at Iowa State, but if he continues his solid play in net, one may come in the future.

“We’ve been trying to keep giving the team a chance to win,” Karus said. “As long as we play well, I believe our team can do enough to win.”