The American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament was not kind to Cyclone Hockey last weekend, as the Cyclones saw all of their momentum evaporate, as they ended their season with 6-3 and 8-5 losses.

The No. 6 Cyclones were upset by No. 11 West Chester University and No. 7 Lindenwood in Youngstown, Ohio, while being outscored 4-1 in the final period of the games.

“We were not a third period team last week,” said coach Al Murdoch. “Typical Cyclone Hockey teams have been at their best during the third period, but this time we were the ones that got outplayed.”

The third period was the Cyclones’ bread and butter during their nine-game winning streak in the month of February, when they outscored opponents 20-2 in those nine games.

The Cyclone defense that had been so strong for the past two months gave up 14 goals in two games, which is just one goal less than the 15 they surrendered during in their previous nine games.

The Cyclones were victims of the power play on the first night against No. 11 West Chester, giving up four power play goals to the Golden Rams.

“They were more prepared for the game than we were,” Murdoch said. “They took advantage of almost every opportunity we gave them and it hurt us.”

The loss to the No. 11 seed dropped the Cyclones into the 11th place consolation game against a familiar conference foe, the No. 7 Lindenwood Lions. The Cyclones split their regular season series in Ames against Lindenwood, who were upset 5-4 in the first round to eventual champion No. 10 Oakland University.

After winning the Division 2 national title last season, Oakland took home a national title in its first season playing in Division 1.

The Cyclones swept Oakland 4-3, 5-4 at home in late October.

The team will now get a break until students return for Spring Break, when they will be back hard at work, training off the ice for next season.

“Now we’re in an evaluation period,” Murdoch said. “Academics, players, recruiting, marketing and coaching. We’ll try to build on our strengths, and see what we can do to eliminate our weaknesses.”

The Cyclones lose six seniors this offseason, including two goalies, a defenseman and three forwards.

Goaltender Trent Baker, whose late season hot-streak led the Cyclones to the Central States Collegiate Hockey League title, will move on along with goalie Geoff Miller, leaving freshman Christian Johansson as the lone goaltender on the roster.

Defenseman Matt McLin and forwards Jason Brown, Rob Tauer and Mike Paulsen have also seen their final minutes in a Cyclone Hockey uniform.

“It’s not going to be easy to fill their shoes,” Murdoch said. “They have had great careers here, and they will be missed.”

The Cyclones finish the season with a 31-10-2 record, notching a second consecutive 30-win season and the teams’ first CSCHL championship since 2001-2002.