The Cyclone Hockey team is trying to regain some momentum going into the postseason.

The 11th-ranked Cyclones will face St. Thomas University (Minn.), ranked 10th in the central region of Division II.

St. Thomas filled in at the last minute after conference foe St. Louis University backed out of the game. St. Louis canceled the last two series on their schedule, including the series with the Cyclones, for unknown reasons.

The Cyclones had to scramble to find a replacement to fill St. Louis’ slot.

“With ice time as valuable as it is, we don’t want to give up ice time,” said coach Al Murdoch. “We like to have competition time, so it is very important to have games. We are working really hard on the ice [in practice], and we are working really hard during dry land training. Games are the fun part of it and kind of a break for the guys, while still getting them to the rink. Plus we need to get receipts. We pay our own way, and it’s one of the best fundraisers that we have.”

Cyclone Hockey is trying to bounce back from a couple of close losses to No. 1 Illinois. The team is trying to look at last weekend’s games positively, using those disappointing losses to the Fighting Illini as motivation.

“If Illinois is the No. 1 team in the nation, we are really close,” said sophomore defender Adam Mueller. “There is a lot of potential for us. We have been saying that all year, but it is really starting to prove itself now.”

Time is running out for the team to realize that potential, however. The Cyclones want to get rolling again this weekend before the conference tournament next weekend.

“I think it will give us a little bit of confidence,” said sophomore forward Brad Krueger. “We won’t be playing a team as high-caliber as Illinois, so it should get us right up there where we need to be for the Central States Tournament.”

Along with improving their confidence, the players are looking at this weekend as an opportunity to keep their game sharp.

“The good thing about playing these teams is that you can work on things that it is harder to when you’re playing a team like Illinois,” Krueger said. “We can get our power play rolling, our penalty killing, get our systems, our defensive zones, just little things like that.”

The Cyclones are taking care not to overlook St. Thomas, however.

“For them, it is going to be a huge game, proving that they can play with a Division I team,” Mueller said. “Any team can be beaten on any given night, so we definitely need to be on our game.”