After a tough series in which Cyclone Hockey lost its first home games of the season, the team seemed surprisingly upbeat.

The No. 12 Cyclones (10-6) got swept by No. 6 Oklahoma (13-2) by scores of 4-3 and 3-1 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

The reason for the Cyclones’ relatively high spirits after such a tough weekend was that they felt they played pretty well, said coach Al Murdoch.

“I thought our team was playing some of the best hockey we have all season,” Murdoch said. “We didn’t come out on the right end in scoring, but that was definitely a solid sixth-ranked team in the country, if not higher. Our guys played with a lot of heart, a lot of enthusiasm, I thought [goalie] Christian Johansson played really well with four goals against [Friday] night with a lot of quality shots. He saw a lot of rubber.”

In fact, both goalies saw a lot of action in the series.

The Cyclones actually had more shots than Oklahoma for the series 88-76, with a 35-26 advantage in the first game and 53-50 in the second game.

“That is probably the fastest game we have played in all season,” Murdoch said. “Quicker players, both teams are well conditioned, just really solid hockey. That is what college hockey is all about – end-to-end action with well-conditioned student athletes.”

Not only was this the fastest game the Cyclones have played so far, the team feels it was also one of the most physical.

“A team like Oklahoma is a big team, solid team, strong team,” said freshman forward Josh Rahme. “We expected them to play the body the way they did. I think pretty much everyone who was on the ice had a few bumps and bruises coming out of the series, so it was definitely a physical series. I think in that aspect we took it to them. I know four of their guys had ice packs after two periods.”

So with such a fast-paced, physical hockey game, what was the deciding factor?

“The puck went in the net more often for them than us. What else can I say? On any given night I think we could have the puck go in a little more often for us and a little less for the opponent, I can’t put it any simpler,” Murdoch said.

“We didn’t get the bounces and they did.”

The way the puck bounced seemed to have a significant role in a series in which little else separated the two teams.

“We didn’t catch any bounces this series, so I guess in a way that was really the decider in the series,” Rahme said.

Although Rahme blamed the bounces, he also was quick to give a lot of credit to Oklahoma.

“Lucky bounces come with hard work,” Rahme said. “The bottom line is they capitalized on their chances and we simply didn’t.”