While the rest of the school gets out of Ames and catches up on some long overdue sleep, Cyclone Hockey is preparing to play another intense series in what is possibly the toughest schedule in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

The No. 12 Cyclones (10-6) will travel to Ohio to face No. 13 Kent State (9-6) in league games on Friday and Saturday.

This series will be very important to both Iowa State and Kent State, as they are third and fourth in the Central States Hockey League, respectively, separated by only 2 points.

“It’s going to be a big matchup, not only for national standings, but we are really close in the conference together for points,” said junior forward Bill Adolph. “So any time there are conference games on the line it’s going to be more intense.”

The team feels it has had a good week of practice and will be ready to face Kent State this weekend.

“I wish we were playing them tonight [Wednesday]. We are looking good, guys are flying out there,” said coach Al Murdoch. “The conditioning is starting to show through, we are getting that killer instinct, and we are getting good quality shots on net.”

Although the Cyclones are excited about their prospects for the series, they are still aware of the challenges Kent State is going to pose.

“They are a lot like us, they are a young team, they are physical, they are fast, they have good size, they will be a good strong team,” Murdoch said. “Their goaltending might be a little bit suspect – they are giving up more goals then a lot of teams, but they are winning more than they are losing.”

Not only are they a good team, but they have a tough home crowd behind them, just another challenge the Cyclones will have to go up against.

“When we played them, my freshman year, it was a packed house,” said junior forward Mike Murtaugh. “The fans are right behind us so they are right there. If you mess up in a shift they are right there to let you know or if they score on you they beat on the glass. I’m pretty sure they serve beer there so they are pretty wild. It’s a fun place to play.”

Coach Murdoch said Kent State is a difficult place to play, but he has a plan.

“They play pretty competitive at home, but I think it will be a matter of getting on them quick and keeping them down,” Murdoch said. “That takes away the home ice advantage, so that will be our objective.”

Kent State has a rather unorthodox style of play. Last year, the Golden Flashes pulled their goalie a lot more aggressively than most team do. As a result, the Cyclones scored five open-net goals on them in their three games last year, including a highlight-reel goal by then-Cyclone-goalie Trent Baker.

The Cyclones have been running drills in practice this week without goalies to help get the team ready to score goals on open nets.