The Cyclone Hockey team got back to its winning ways, with a 10-5 win over Texas Tech on Friday, and a 9-0 win on Saturday.

After losing tough games, the team said it hoped to get off to a quick start in their next game.

‘Getting off to a quick start’ was an understatement, as Cylclone Hockey came roaring out of the gates, scoring four goals within the first five minutes of the game.

“Coming out strong with the first four goals of the game really got everybody into the game,” said sophomore goalkeeper Geoff Miller, after his first start of the year.

After the onslaught that took place in the opening five minutes, where it looked as though the men’s team could score at will, the pace of the game slowed as Texas Tech tightened up its play.

The Red Raiders’ slow start may have been related to Hurricane Katrina.

Its arena had been used as a shelter for refugees from New Orleans, leaving little time for games or practice. In fact, Texas Tech has had a total of only eight practices and had not played a game before Friday’s match-up with the Cyclones.

Saturday’s game posed a new challenge as well for the Cyclones, as the format of the game was changed to prepare for potential TV-broadcasted games. Instead of the traditional three 20-minute periods, they played two 30-minute halves with a running clock. It had little effect on the Cyclones who proceeded, behind the goaltending of Matt Johnson, to shut out the Red Raiders on Saturday.

The sweep of Texas Tech sent the team’s record to a league leading 10-2. The hockey team has also started to grab the attention of other teams around the league, as they have risen consistently in the rankings throughout the season. They began the season at No. 11 and now find themselves sitting at number five as of Oct. 7.

The hockey team’s first loss of the season had come the previous Friday against Ohio on the road in Bird Arena.

“Bird Arena at Ohio University is probably the toughest place to play,” said team captain David Moline.

Ohio is ranked third in the league, and coupled with the harsh environment of Bird Arena, made a very unfavorable match-up for the Cyclone Hockey team.

After a slow start Friday, the team was never able to recover and lost 5-3. They showed resiliency on Saturday, as they actually out-shot Ohio 35-28. Unfortunately for the Cyclones, it wasn’t the amount of shots that determined who won the game, as they lost by a final score of 6-3.

“Basically what hurt us all last weekend were power-plays,” Moline said. “They scored three goals on Friday and two on Saturday night on power-plays, and we only ended up losing by two or three goals. So those can really make a difference.”

Next weekend the Cyclones will have a split series against the University of Iowa. They play on Friday at home at the ISU/Ames Ice Arena, and then on Saturday they will travel to Cedar Rapids for the series finale.

Each team will have a home game in the series. Iowa always plays a few home games at Cedar Rapids every year since the arena there can hold more fans.

“We’ve got some unusual games coming up down the next stretch,” said coach Al Murdoch.