If there was a perfect time for the Cyclones to pull themselves out of their recent scoring rut, this was it. Coming into last weekend’s conference series with No. 9 Kent State, the Cyclones had allowed more goals than they scored during their first 16 conference games.

It’s safe to say that trend has been reversed.

After weeks of citing their inability to finish plays in front of the net as a major Achilles’ heel, the No. 6 Cyclones (26-8-2, 11-6-1 CSCHL) exploded offensively for 7-1 and 11-4 (two empty net goals) poundings of the Golden Flashes (26-11-1, 9-11-0) in the final conference series of the season.

“We were really successful at spreading out their defense,” said associate head coach Brian Wilkie. “We also did a great job of taking advantage of their mistakes and finishing them off. We’ve come a long way in this last month, everybody’s hard work has paid off and it looks like we’re finally turning the corner.”

The balanced offensive attack saw no single player dominate, as sophomore Bill Adolph led the team with three goals and two assists, while freshman Brent Cornelius, senior Jason Brown and juniors Allen Raushel and Jayson Peterson each netted two goals on the weekend.

Behind the revival of the offense stood the consistently steady defense, which has been the anchor of the Cyclones’ success for the past five weekends.

Kent State, which led the nation in total goals scored coming into the weekend, was held to just five in two games, which is below their single game average of 5.47 ppg.

Senior goaltender Trent Baker sparkled once again for the Cyclones, stopping 77 of 82 Kent State shots amid all the offensive firepower he saw his teammates apply on the opposite end of the ice.

“When we play like this, it makes my job really easy,” Baker said. “It takes a lot of pressure off of me when we get out ahead of teams like we did this weekend. But on the other hand, when I’m seeing the puck as well as I have been, I want to be involved in the action as much as I can, which wasn’t the case for most of the weekend.”

Kent State’s Jason O’Bannon and Chris Hourigan each ranked in the top five nationally in points and were both held scoreless by Baker on Friday night, marking just the third time in 38 games that the duo have failed to record a goal or assist.

“Trent is playing out of his mind right now,” said Brown. “He is without a doubt the heart and soul of this defense, and his success in the net has really given us all a boost in the last month.”

With the sweep, the Cyclones have secured the No. 4 seed in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament, which means they will once again meet a familiar foe in the first round: the Kent State Golden Flashes.

“This was great for our momentum,” Baker said. “But we play [Kent State] again next weekend, so it’s nine periods in a row against the same team.

“They’re going to get tired of playing us and we’ll get tired of playing them, but we definitely have one thing they may not have when we face them in the tournament: confidence.”

The tournament will be held Feb. 16, 17 and 18 in Athens, Ohio, and will be hosted by the No. 1 seed Ohio University Bobcats, which the Cyclones split with in Ames earlier this season.

The Cyclones have now won 11 of their last 14 games, and 15 of their last 19, and hope to continue feeding the fire as the end of the season nears.

“The momentum we have right now as a team is incredible,” Brown said.

“Everybody is really coming together and we’re all starting to click, so the team is peaking at just the right time.”