Cyclone Hockey addressed problems from its opening series against Ohio, cutting down on power-play goals allowed and penalties last weekend.

The 12th-ranked Cyclones (4-2) swept the No. 18 Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-4) this weekend at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, winning 9-1 Friday and 5-4 Saturday.

A major reason for the Cyclones’ success was their improvement in killing the Eagles’ power plays. Last weekend in Ohio, the Cyclones allowed eight goals on power plays. This weekend, the Cyclones were more active in penalty killing, allowing just three power-play goals and scoring a shorthanded goal.

“We are putting a lot more pressure on them, just kind of getting them bundled up,” said freshman forward Josh Jeske. “When it’s in their zone, we’re putting more pressure on them, so they have to struggle to get it out.”

Sophomore forward Brian Spring said the team was more disciplined this weekend and the team stressed the need for discipline in practice during the week.

The Cyclones showed this newfound discipline by playing smarter hockey and giving up fewer power plays.

“We just kept our sticks down and played more with our heads, rather than our bodies,” Jeske said.

Jeske said the team was able to stay in the Eagles’ zone more often due to racking up fewer penalties than last weekend, enabling the Cyclones to score more.

Even after cutting down on penalties, the Cyclones were still called for more than the Eagles.

“A lot had to do with retaliation,” Jeske said. “We were getting really frustrated out there and then made fouls.”

Coach Al Murdoch took a more optimistic view of the problem, attributing the Cyclones’ penchant for penalties to “youthful enthusiasm.”

Spring agrees with his coach.

“Some of our penalties were just playing hard, and that’s the way coach wants us to play,” Spring said. “We took some penalties for hitting too hard.”

Aside from playing cleaner hockey, Murdoch believes a major key to the series this weekend was the play of goaltender Christian Johansson.

“Christian Johansson gave us an opportunity to win, and tonight we did – that is the difference between this week and last week. Last week, he gave us an opportunity to win, and we didn’t take it – tonight we did,” Murdoch said. “Five goals against in two nights is not bad.”