It was a weekend stocked full of emotional highs and lows for the ISU Men’s Ice Hockey Team.

On Friday night, the Cyclones lost a heartbreaker, as Illinois scored with just 3:36 remaining in the game to hand the Cyclones the 3-2 loss.

“There’s no question about it, Illinois is a very good team,” said coach Al Murdoch after the loss.

“I can see now why they were ranked No. 1 in the nation for so long.”

But on Saturday, the Cyclones showed signs of resiliency, as they bounced back to win in a shoot-out, 2-1.

“Oh, it feels pretty good,” said senior David Moline.

There was reason to feel good after the win – it was the first time the Cyclones defeated Illinois in their last 13 tries.

On Friday, after an exciting two periods that saw the Cyclones battle back from a two-goal deficit, a defensive lapse helped the Illini break the 2-2 tie.

The Cyclones got caught attacking deep in the zone and the puck was knocked up to center ice.

Brad Czachor, the lone defender, stepped up and hit one of two Illinois players going for the puck. The puck squeezed through, leading to a breakaway and the game-winning goal for Mike Roesch of Illinois.

“Looking back on it now, I think I didn’t play the situation right and what I should have done is backed off and played a 2-on-1,” Czachor said.

“I went with my instincts and I thought what I could do I could do, and it just kind of backfired.”

Mike Murtaugh came up big on Saturday with a two-goal performance.

With time winding down in the second period and the Cyclones down 2-1, Murtaugh scored a shorthanded goal with five seconds remaining.

Both teams failed to score in the third period and overtime, which led to the shoot-out.

With the teams tied at one in the shoot-out, Allen Raushel put the Cyclones fourth shot past last year’s World Games goalie Mike DeGeorge, giving the Cyclones a 2-1 advantage.

This left Illinois with one chance to tie it back up in the form of Andrew Lubesnick.

Lubesnick, who delivered the game-ending blow in a shoot-out one season ago, swooped in, shot it past a sprawling Matt Johnson, only to have it deflect off the upper left corner of the cross bar, giving the Cyclones the series split after a breathtaking shoot-out and series.

“The emotion was there for the seniors who finally got the chance to beat them,” Murtaugh said. “To see the puck hit the post and go wide, it can’t end in any better of a fashion.”

The split means the Cyclones remain in third place in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League standings, and most likely retain the No. 5 spot in the nation.

“We came out and showed some fire, and that’s what it takes to win playoff games,” Moline said. “So it’s a big confidence booster for us.”

The Cyclones head to Western Michigan as the No. 3 seed, to await their opponent in the CSCHL Tournament next weekend.