This weekend, Cyclone Hockey (3-1) will try to rebound from its first loss of the season as it hosts the Kansas Jayhawks (6-1).

The last time these two teams met was in 2004 when Iowa State swept Kansas. However, this does not mean the Cyclones will overlook the Jayhawks this weekend. Coach Al Murdoch believes Kansas will be ready to play a tough and physical series.  

“They’ll come here looking to play as well as their football team,” Murdoch said. Kansas will also play Iowa State in football on Saturday. “They’ll be looking to not take any prisoners and I believe they’ll be as good a hustling team as Missouri and Missouri State.”  

Last Saturday’s game may have left a bad taste in the mouths of many players, but Murdoch said the team cannot focus on that game and must get ready for this weekend.

“We need to get the offense rolling,” Murdoch said. “We only scored three goals on Friday night and two goals on Saturday. That’s not our style. Our style is to score six to seven goals per game.”  

Senior forward Mike Murtaugh thinks this weekend’s series will be a good opportunity for the team to prove not only to the fans but also to itself that it is better than the way it played last weekend.

“Everyone is looking forward to playing the next game and redeeming themselves,” Murtaugh said. “Everyone wants to get back on the ice and prove to ourselves that we can win games and play better than we did last Saturday.”

Murtaugh also knows that in order for the Cyclones to redeem themselves, they will need to play with better discipline and play with the lead.  

“We can’t take any dumb penalties,” Murtaugh said. “We also need to score first and not play behind.”

The offense is not the only area the Cyclones need to improve. Senior forward Bill Adolph believes there is much room for improvement on defense.  

“We can’t give up three goals in the first period, let alone the first eight minutes of the game,” Adolph said.  

Adolph also mentioned Murdoch’s outlook on how the Cyclones should practice this week.

“Coach has been talking about competing with each other all week long,” Adolph said. “We can’t be friends out here. We need to treat each other like the other team.”

Murdoch shared the same thoughts as Adolph, believing his team did not play to its full potential defensively.

“We allowed too many goals,” Murdoch said. “I didn’t think we were as physical as we should be. We can usually wear the other teams down. We need to be playing more physically from the start, for the whole sixty minutes.”  

Despite last Saturday’s loss, Murdoch still expects nothing less than two Iowa State victories this weekend.

“We expect to win,” Murdoch said. “But if we lose, we’re going to go down fighting.”