After playing nine straight series against Division I hockey teams and seven against ranked opponents, Cyclone Hockey will break that streak and start another by playing two straight series against Division II teams.

The 12th-ranked Cyclones (9-8) will travel to Missouri State (12-3), ranked fifth in Division II, for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday.

Cyclones coach Al Murdoch, however, refuses to take Missouri State less seriously than any Division I team they have played so far. He feels many Division II teams are just as good as Division I teams, they just choose to travel less for a variety of reasons.

“D-II teams play tough schedules and they have great players. Missouri State in particular is one of the top Division II teams and we definitely can’t take them too lightly,” Murdoch said.

After such a difficult schedule to begin the season, the Cyclones want to make sure they don’t have a letdown, entering an easier portion of their schedule.

“You always try to stay focused in a game like that. We did lose to Missouri [State] last year, so that definitely helps us be a little more prepared this time,” said sophomore forward Brad Krueger.

Although the Cyclones have played tougher teams this season, they still feel some pressure this weekend.

“It is going to look bad if we lose to a team like that, and it definitely won’t help us in the rankings, and we are struggling, so we definitely need to win every game,” said sophomore forward Brian Spring.

Adding on to that pressure, the Cyclones will face a new challenge against a Missouri State team they have not faced thus far this season.

“Everyone expects us to win big and so everyone is trying to do it themselves, so I think the team play goes down a little bit this weekend,” said sophomore forward Pete Majkozak.

Missouri State is coached by a former Cyclone Hockey player and ISU alumnus, Benjamin Alexander. This will create even more possible problems for the Cyclones.

“He is going to know all our systems in and out,” Majkozak said. “He played for Coach Murdoch so he’s going to know the systems that he runs. He is going to know just about everything about us, which is a little bit of a disadvantage for us.”

Even with all these things working against the Cyclones, making it a possible trap series, the players feel they are still in a good position to be successful this weekend if they can just focus on the task at hand.

“We just need to play our game, get back to playing the basics,” Spring said.