After a weekend off, Cyclone Hockey is looking ahead to the postseason, beginning with the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament this weekend.

The Cyclones finished the season ranked No. 5 and will play their first game on Saturday night against No. 4 Ohio in Wentzville, Missouri.

The Cyclones are 1-3 against Ohio University this season, so they know it will be a tough matchup.

“[We] just have to bring an effort for 60 minutes and I think we’ll be fine, get the outcome we’re hoping for,” said Jason Fairman, head coach and general manager. “If we don’t play for 60 minutes, we won’t be successful.”

The Cyclones are recently coming off a win against No. 10 University of Central Oklahoma on March 2, where they ended the weekend series in a split.

After a tough stretch prior to their last regular season game, Cyclone Hockey ended on a high note and is now looking to build off of it headed into the postseason.

“I think we’ve been playing pretty good hockey, and weren’t getting the results that we probably deserved,” said senior defenseman Nick Sandy. “So it was nice for it to all come together and have pucks go in for us [against UCO].”

After the team finishes in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament, they’ll travel to Dallas, Texas for the national Tournament.

The Cyclones are already set to face off against No. 12 Stony Brook on Saturday, March 23 at 10 a.m.

“[The Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament] is a good dress rehearsal for the big prize,” Fairman said.

No matter what happens at the tournament this weekend, the team has to be ready to play again next weekend at nationals.

“It’s really exciting,” said senior forward Trevor Sabo. “It’s what the whole season is built up toward. Once you get around this time, it definitely sparks up again.”

Sandy said that during this time, the team’s focus is improving their own game, rather than worrying about what other teams are doing.

Sandy also added that he’s felt extremely happy to captain this team and for where they’ve gotten already.

“It’s been a heck of a year,” Sandy said. “We had some good stretches before Christmas, and a bit of a tough stretch lately, but there’s a lot of belief in that locker room.”

The Cyclones will get to show what they’re made of as they take on the 2018-2019 postseason.