Coming off an exciting sweep of Kent State, Cyclone Hockey now begins a long road trip, stopping first in Norman, Okla., to play a two-game series against the Sooners on Friday and Saturday. They will finish the weekend with a stop at Central Oklahoma on Sunday before making the trip to Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Thanksgiving Tournament.

Oklahoma is currently ranked third in the ACHA, and with the Cyclones ranked seventh, this is an opportunity to move up in the rankings.

“We got to come to play,” sophomore forward Cort Bulloch said. “They came here and gave use two losses last year when we played them, so we’re definitely using that as a little fuel. We got to play our game in their arena, but we’ve done it in the past and we’ve got to do it this weekend.”

Coach Al Murdoch said one of the key things they must accomplish is to do a better job of making changes on the fly.

“I think our team is playing pretty well right now — we need to work on the transition game,” Murdoch said. “I think we’ve outplayed all of the teams we’ve played so far pretty well for 30, 35-second shifts, but we need to make that transition.”

The transition game is important because if certain shifts are on the ice for up to a minute, the other team gets fresher legs, creating opportunities for them to score more goals, like Kent State did on Saturday. Changing on the fly will be a key component to the series this weekend.

Oklahoma is going to try to match Iowa State with talent, shooting ability and hitting intensity.

“They have some outstanding hockey players and we have to neutralize that defensively. Our goalkeepers are playing well right now and they’ll make the first save, but if there’s a rebound, we have to get to that loose puck before the opponent does,” Murdoch said.

Freshman defenseman Josh Mandich feels the special teams are also an issue that needs to be corrected. Kent State beat Iowa State this weekend in the power play opportunities, something the team has been focusing on this week in practice.

Bulloch also talked about the challenge that Sunday’s opponent, fellow top-10 team Central Oklahoma, presents.

“It’s a new team that we won’t have played on Friday and Saturday, so they’re going to be fresh. We’re going to be a little banged up so we’ll look to our depth to keep us fresh and look to keep our winning streak going.” Bulloch said.

The Cyclones are on a six-game win streak as they head on their extensive road trip. Mandich said team chemistry is what has kept the streak going.

“We’ve got good team play, we don’t have any one guy trying to do it by himself,” Mandich said. “We have a really deep team this year so we can change up the lineup from night to night — just a real good group of guys that play together and play well.”

The Cyclones play in their first three-game weekend of the season. This will put the Cyclones’ depth, which has gotten them through series in the past, to another test, perhaps the toughest of the season.