The third period buzzer sounded on Saturday, and for the second straight night, Cyclone Hockey fans were fastened to their seats tighter than ever.

Both games on the weekend found the No. 6 Cyclones knotted at three with No. 17 Robert Morris after regulation, which has been familiar territory for these two teams. The Cyclones and Eagles haven’t been able to decide a winner in 60 minutes in their last five meetings.

“We have a history of playing close games against [Robert Morris],” said junior Allen Raushel, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime on Saturday. “They got us twice last year in overtime games, including once in the CSCHL tournament, so it was great to come back this year with these two big wins.”

They may have needed an overtime to finish things off in both games of the series, but the weekend ended in all smiles for the Cyclones (17-6-1), as they celebrated their first sweep of a Central States Collegiate Hockey League challenger this season.

“We have been working so hard all year to sweep a league opponent,” said junior Jayson Peterson, who scored two goals in Friday’s shootout, including the game-winner. “We have been struggling to get points in the CSCHL, and to come out this weekend and get eight points in two exciting conference wins in front of a great home crowd was really a great note to end on this semester.”

The Cyclones found themselves down 3-2 in the third period on Saturday, before freshman Shane Mytnik lit the red light on a breakaway for his seventh goal this season, tying the game at three with 5:38 left to play.

It seemed as if the two teams were destined for a second shootout, but Raushel had other things in mind. With just 0:43 left in the overtime period, Raushel delivered once again, using quick stick work to split two Eagle defenders and find the back of the net for a 4-3 victory.

“Their center was able to read my draws for most of the night,” Raushel said. “So I pretended like I was going backhand and then switched my hands back, but I wasn’t able to get the shot off. I turned around and looked for a pass but nobody was open, so I just decided to crash the net, and I really don’t know how the puck got through.”

The Cyclones jumped out to a 1-0 lead in both contests this weekend, which has been a key to their success all year. The team has posted an outstanding 13-0-1 record when scoring first, with its only loss coming in a road shootout against the University of Michigan-Dearborn on Oct. 14.

Robert Morris got hot in the second period Friday night, scoring all three of its regulation goals in the period and taking a 3-2 lead with 20 minutes left to play. Its lead didn’t hold much longer, as freshman Adam Mueller slapped a 50-foot laser by Eagle goaltender Aaron Merkle less than three minutes into the third period.

The Cyclones didn’t make the game easy on themselves after Mueller’s equalizer, committing four penalties in the next 10 minutes. Despite being two men down at some points, the Cyclones still managed to keep Robert Morris off the scoreboard in the third period.

The defensive effort improved substantially this weekend, as the Cyclones killed more than a dozen Robert Morris power plays and gave up just one power-play goal.

“Power plays have hurt us at times this year,” Raushel said. “We have been working on them a lot in practice, watching videos and putting in new systems, and that has made us a lot more structured and smooth during penalty kills instead of just running around like we were at the beginning of the season.”

An evenly balanced overtime period still yielded no winner, sending the Cyclones to their third shootout of the season. After Robert Morris’ Steve LaFrenier led off the shootout with a goal, Peterson answered with his own to tie the score at 1-1 after one round.

The Eagles jumped to a 2-1 lead after three shooters, and Cyclone goaltender Christian Johansson came up big with a huge save in round four to give the Cyclones a chance to get even, and Mr. Clutch Allen Raushel found the back to the net once again to tie the shootout at two.

After a goal by the Eagles, the spotlight turned once again to Mueller, who made his second equalizer of the game to tie the shootout at three. Another great save by Johansson set the stage for the red-hot Peterson, who knew the game was all but over.

“After their sixth shooter missed I told Christian ‘I’m going to win the game for you, don’t worry,'” said Peterson, Cyclone Hockey’s current points leader. “I knew I could beat their goalie upstairs, and everything worked out perfectly. I haven’t had much success in shootouts recently, so getting those two goals Friday really helped me get a monkey off my back.”

The Cyclones improved to 5-4-1 in the conference with this dramatic eight-point weekend, and jumped up to fifth place in the CSCHL standings.

“This was a huge series for us, especially coming the week before exams,” said coach Al Murdoch. “This was a real positive way to wrap up the semester. We’re playing very well right now, and I’m really comfortable with the stage we’re at during this point of the season.”

After a three-week break, the team will return home on Jan. 6 to face American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II Missouri State University (3-7-2), who has yet to face a Division I opponent this season. The nonconference series will allow the players to knock off some rust before they play three consecutive series against teams ranked 12th or higher in the ACHA’s Division I rankings.

Both games against Missouri State will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.