The Cyclone hockey team is picking up the pieces after two eerily similar losses.

The No. 11 Cyclones (24-10) gave No. 1 Illinois (27-0) all it could handle over the weekend, but came away with two identical 3-2 overtime losses.

Not only were the scores the same, but the ways the teams scored were similar. The first period ended without a single goal, then the Cyclones took off in the second, taking a 2-0 lead into the final period. In the third, the Illini were able to tie the game and win in overtime.

Overtime periods are played four-on-four, instead of the five-on-five play seen in regulation – so when the Cyclones got a penalty early in the overtime period of the first game, they were skating three-on-four when Illinois scored the winning goal. On Saturday, Illinois sophomore defender Brad Hoelzer made a nice move and a difficult shot into the upper right corner of the net for the win.

“We’ve got a lot of overtime experience, and four-on-four opens the ice up a little bit – typically that is to our advantage,” said Illinois coach Chad Cassel.

He was quick to give Iowa State credit, however.

“Iowa State played great all weekend – they outplayed us and outplayed us badly at times, but we just continued to battle and, fortunately, both nights we found a way to win the game,” Cassel said.

One bright spot of this series was freshman goalie Erik Hudson. Hudson joined the team at the beginning of the spring semester and is already playing good hockey for the Cyclones. In this series alone, he made 61 saves – 24 on Friday night and 37 on Saturday.

“Erik Hudson is playing really well and, considering he is only a first semester freshman, we are really pleased with how he looks,” said Cyclones coach Al Murdoch. “In a matter of time, he will be working better with the defensemen and he will be working pretty well with the forwards. Then we look for very bright things on the horizon.”

Hudson, however, won’t take all the credit. He insists his teammates played a key part in determining how he played.

“Obviously, I pride myself on my goaltending abilities, but it’s not just me – it’s my team that helps me out too,” Hudson said. “The team played well around me, they helped me clear the pucks out. It wasn’t just me who was playing well. In our defensive end we got a lot of perimeter shots.”

Even though the team was visibly disappointed after the game, the Cyclones will try to take some good things away from this week.

“We are the only team in the league to take four points off these guys; you get two points each game for making it into overtime play,” said freshman forward Josh Rahme. “There are lots of positives that we can take away from the weekend.”

Although the Cyclones will not see Illinois again in the regular season, Rahme said he expects to see them again, either in the conference tournament in two weeks or in the national tournament.

“All the more reason to take it to them next time,” Rahme said.