David Merrill

Staff Writer

Coming off a 4-1 victory in game one, the Cyclones looked to build off the success from the night before in game two against the Stallions from Western Michigan.

Sophomore goalie Erik Hudson and the Cyclone defensive line answered the call, pitching a shutout in a 3-0 victory.

The Cyclones put the pressure on the Stallions early, creating numerous chances on goal, but were unable to convert any on their opening wave of attacks on net and the score remained at a stalemate as the first period passed its halfway point.

The first period ended 0-0 with nothing to show for it, but hard physical checks and a gutsy first period performance by Hudson and the Cyclones defensive line.

The second period began much like the first with both teams coming out of the locker room playing very physical hockey.

Head coach Al Murdoch talked about the Stallions being a little bit more physical than the night before.

“They might have had a little bus leg yesterday, but they certainly didn’t have that tonight”, Murdoch said.

Murdoch then went on to talk about the Cyclones success on face-offs throughout the game.

“We won the face-off battle in all three zones in all three periods, we also won the hit battle and the possession of puck battle in all three periods, and we also outs-shot them in all three periods. Statistically we beat them in every category”, Murdoch said.

With 7:42 remaining in the second period, sophomore forward Chris Mackay went down to the ice and attempted to crawl to the bench, but was unable to make it and was attended to by team trainers. Mackay, who was helped off the ice by teammates, left with a brace on his left leg.

“I wanna say that C-Mac is one of the guys that are the heart and soul of the hockey team and a good friend of mine”, Hudson said. “We have some guys with some minor injuries… but we have a deep bench, so hopefully it wont hurt us too much.”

Sophomore forward Josh Rahme, who scored a goal and had an assist in his first game back since recovering from a shoulder injury took a hard check into the boards and may have re-injured that same shoulder.

The second period ended much like the first, with the scoreboard still showing double zeros and the great battle between Hudson and Andrew Roberts spilled over into the third period.

The physical play continued into the third period when a Stallion shot hit off the right goalpost and emotions escalated in front of the Cyclones net, warranting offsetting fighting penalties for both teams.

With 11:55 remaining in the third period, the Cyclones finally broke the deadlock that WMU had put on them all game when junior forward Pete Majkozak had a breakaway shot bounce of Robert’s leg pad right into the skate of junior forward Brad Krueger for the crucial goal.

Krueger was a little bit surprised at how hard it was for the goal to come.

“It was tough, I don’t think we were expecting that from them, a team whose not ranked as high as we were , and for two nights in a row; I was impressed at how we came back and fought with adversity and got that first one right away.”

ISU continued to pick up the pace as freshman defenseman Brody Toigo put a beautiful slap shot past Roberts from just in front of the blue line. Toigo was assisted by junior forward Brian Spring on the play. That goal put the Cyclones up 2-0 with eight minutes remaining in the game.

In the final minute, the Stallions pulled their goalie in order to try to gain a man advantage. Junior defenseman Adam Mueller took advantage himself, however, and launched the puck the length of the ice and into the empty net securing a 3-0 victory behind a strong performance from Hudson and the Cyclone defense.

Hudson was quick to credit his defense for the shutout as well.

“My defense are probably one of the best in the nation”, Hudson said. “They let me see the puck on the penalty kill, they hardly make a mistake and if they do, they recover; they are one of the best core in the nation, so it helps a lot.”