After a hard fought loss in the second round of the national tournament, the Cyclone Hockey team was disappointed. That disappointment, however, quickly gave way to enthusiasm for next season.

On Saturday, the 10th-ranked Cyclones pulled off an upset to defeat No. 7 Ohio 2-0 in the first round of the national tournament in Rochester, N.Y. They were knocked out of the tournament in the second round on Sunday by the No. 2 seed, Lindenwood, 3-0.

Both games were defensive struggles. The Cyclones and Ohio were deadlocked until freshman forward Mike Lebler scored on a penalty shot. The game was not decided until sophomore forward Brian Spring scored an open net goal in the closing moments of the game.

“We were coming into the tournament and we were playing higher ranked teams all the way because we were ranked 10th and Ohio was 7th,” said sophomore defenseman Brent Cornelius. “We played them earlier in the season and they swept us; they were a better team than we were before. Maybe they let up a little bit, thinking that they had it. They played their game and so did we, and everything panned out the way it was suppose to.”

Against Lindenwood the Cyclones fell behind in the first period. From then on it was a stalemate until Lindenwood scored a second goal late in the third period and, finally, an open net goal at the very end of the game.

“Lindenwood is ranked No. 2 in the country, and they did sweep us in the fall, but I feel that if we played them three more times, we would win twice,” said coach Al Murdoch. “When you come to the national tournament, you run into some outstanding goaltenders. Lindenwood has one of those outstanding goaltenders.”

Even though the Cyclones got knocked out of the tournament, they still seemed rather upbeat.

“I actually felt pretty good about [this weekend],” said sophomore defenseman Adam Mueller. “I thought the team played really well together, both offensively and defensively.”

Although the season is over for the Cyclones, the careers are not necessarily over for any of the players. Barring academic or health problems, the Cyclones will return everybody from this year’s team, comprised of 14 freshman, nine sophomores and three juniors.

This youth has caused the Cyclones to immediately start looking at next season.

“Although the guys are disappointed that we are going home early, they really feel it was good preparation for next season already,” Murdoch said.

Next season is one that the team is especially looking forward to.

“The team has come so far [this year],” Mueller said. “It is a lot harder to bring up 14 freshmen than it is to bring just a few up to speed. But I think the team has made great strides and everybody is excited for next year. We have so much opportunity.”