The Iowa State Men’s Lacrosse Club took its game on the road this weekend in its final two Upper Midwest Lacrosse League Division A games in Steven’s Point, Wis., losing 14-7 Sunday and 12-7 Saturday.

The Cyclones (2-8, 2-5) faced a very strong team offensively in undefeated St. Olaf in Sunday’s game. The Oles (6-0, 3-0) scored first with a strong attack leading through the Cyclones defense. Iowa State wasn’t going to be taken easily however, as the two teams continued to share goals back and forth throughout the first half.

“We really started well in the first half, only down two goals, 6-4, but then we kind of broke down second half,” senior defender Zach Stumo said.

With many players sitting out this weekend’s action because of injuries, the Cyclones saw a letdown in the third quarter, as St. Olaf forced a streak of goals against Iowa State.

“St. Olaf had one attack man that just camped out by the crease for most of the game, allowing the quick pass for the fast breaks,” freshman defender Mike Pokorney said. “Combine that with St. Olaf’s impressive passing, dodges and stick skills- it just really hurt us.”

St. Olaf’s fast breaks forced the Cyclones to trail and have to dig themselves out of a deficit that they just couldn’t overcome. “Most of the goals they [St. Olaf] got were because of the penalties we drew, forcing us to play a man down, and giving them the advantage,” Jacob Oakland, team captain and midfielder said.

The Cyclones faced similar difficulties with fast breaks when they played against University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point (2-1, 2-1) on Saturday.

“Saturday we played really streaky and couldn’t stay consistent at all,” said Oakland. “If we had played the way we did the first quarter, we would have won.”

The first quarter saw the Cyclones take an early lead over UWSP with a four-goal advantage at 5-1. UWSP came back however, and scored six unanswered goals to end the second quarter ahead of the Cyclones 7-5.

“Being short on men, especially midfielders, got us really tired and we gave up a lot of goals in the second quarter,” said Stumo. “It was huge letdown and a definite turning point in the game.”

While the Cyclones scored two more goals, including one by long stick midfielder Lance Allgood, it was not enough to stop the attack of UWSP, who managed to finish the game with five more goals.

“Fast breaks this weekend killed us,” said Stumo. “With five or six fast break goals in a game, it was the turning point in game and we just never recovered.”