The Cyclone Hockey train is rolling. The Cyclones (10-3-1) hope to continue a four-game winning streak this weekend when they play host to the No. 7 Lindenwood Lions (9-5-0), who are coming off a split against Indiana last weekend.

Special teams and constant aggressive play continue to be areas the team is stressing this week, as it knows it must show up for all 60 minutes to beat a top 10 team like Lindenwood.

“Everything is really coming together for us,” said freshman Brent Cornelius, Cyclone Hockey’s Defensive Player of the Week. “If we keep playing physical, coming out flying in the first period, continuing that all game and finishing things off, we’ll be in really good shape.”

Last weekend, a potent offense fueled the Cyclones to a two-game sweep of the University of Iowa, handing the Hawkeyes their seventh and eighth consecutive losses.

The Hawkeyes are members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division II and are relatively new to the collegiate hockey scene. The solid performance last weekend against Iowa gives the sixth-ranked Cyclones a boost as they head into the heart of their conference schedule.

“This gives us good momentum and a little bit of a breather from the heavy action we’ve had through the first 12 games,” said coach Al Murdoch. “So it’s nice to have a series where the players start to fly in the second and third period and see them play really well.”

The Hawkeyes hung with the Cyclones in the first period of both matches, keeping the scores close at 2-1 and 1-1. But the well-conditioned Cyclones took over after the first intermission and skated to 9-2 and 11-1 victories, respectively.

“I think our level of conditioning is really starting to show through,” Murdoch said. “We are traditionally a well-conditioned team year-in and year-out that plays well in the latter stages of the game, and we really showed that this weekend.”

Along with playing great hockey, the Cyclones also used the weekend series to help raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association with the “Jersey Off Their Back” promotion. The players’ jerseys were auctioned off during the game for the promotion, with all proceeds benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“Overall, this was one of the biggest series of the season. We had a huge crowd Friday night in Des Moines, so it was a great situation for us, and also a great night for helping muscular dystrophy,” Murdoch said.

The Cyclones hope the energy they gained from the Iowa series will fuel their attack this weekend against the Lions.

“Everything is really upbeat right now, especially after scoring so many goals last weekend,” said freshman Pete Majkozak, who scored four times over the weekend, earning Cyclone Hockey’s Offensive Player of the Week honors. “We’ve all really started to chill out and now we all have the confidence to know that the puck is going to the back of net.”

The first puck will drop between the Cyclones and the Lions at 7:30 p.m. Friday night and again at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.