The locker room was dead silent; nobody uttered a word for the first hour or so after the game.

The Cyclones season had just come to an abrupt end after being upset in the first round of the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament 4-2 by Westchester.

The sixth-seeded Cyclones ran into a hot Westchester team that made a run to the final four. They were led in the game by a hot goaltender who made 51 saves, neutralizing Iowa State’s 53-20 advantage on shots.

After setting a national championship as their goal coming into the tournament, the team took the early exit hard in the locker room after the game.

“It was just quiet, nobody talked for a long time. I personally didn’t have a conversation with anybody until I called my parents an hour later,” said senior forward Bill Adolph.

Adolph and senior forward Mike Murtaugh combined for 108 points for the Cyclones this season.

Despite the loss, once the players were back in their home locker room a the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, they were able to keep their head held high.

“As disappointing as this is-every one of my twenty six guys found something positive to say about the season and that was really a great feeling,” said head coach Al Murdoch.

Adolph appreciated their last look back at the season before the younger players start looking forward to next year.

“It was really nice when the younger guys, even the freshman, didn’t make any comments like ‘well wait until next year,’ they all had the sense of we were in this together and were disappointed as a team,” Adolph said.

Murdoch was proud of what his two seniors brought to the team and the program as a whole.

“They meant a lot,” Murdoch said. “They showed that with hard work and perseverance, you can get better on and off the ice every year.”

Although Adolph and Murtaugh’s run may be done, they Cyclones are looking to have another strong recruiting class this year and will have plenty of returning leadership. They have seven players returning next year as seniors: defenseman Brent Cornelius, Adam Mueller, and Matt Verdoni and forwards Derek Behrman, Brad Krueger, Pete Majkozak, and Brian Spring.

With that much leadership coming back they are confident in their ability to carry on the tradition of success.

“We have a lot of talent and leadership coming back next year so there’s no reason to think the team won’t be even better,” Mueller said.

Although he will not be with them, Adolph agrees that the team will be in good hands next season.

“I’m confident in their ability; I think they have a really good grasp on how the system works and will do a great job of leading the team next year. This team is still very young and has a lot of potential,” Adolph said.