The No. 12 ISU men’s hockey club solidified its postseason position this weekend against No. 8 Robert Morris College.

Coming off two losses last weekend at No. 7 Eastern Michigan, the Cyclones hoped to rebound as they hosted the Eagles in their final series at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena this season.

Iowa State managed a split of the two games, winning on Friday and losing in a shootout on Saturday.

“We stepped up to the challenge; we really had a pretty good weekend,” said head coach Alan Murdoch.

“To beat and tie eighth-ranked Robert Morris is big for us late in the season.”

Friday night, both teams were deadlocked at one after the first period.

The second period saw a flurry of goals, with Iowa State taking a 3-2 lead at the end of the period.

Iowa State continued to control the play in the third period, scoring two more goals, including an empty-net goal on its way to a 5-3 win.

Sophomore Rob Tauer had two goals, while Griffen Gale, Travis Fast and Allen Raushel each added a score.

“We played really well; we came out strong and the team really stepped up,” Murdoch said.

At Saturday night’s game, nine seniors were honored for senior night.

“It’s a special night for us; none of us seniors want to go out as losers in our last game,” Tim O’Shea said.

The Cyclones came out hard, but Robert Morris was ready. Iowa State got one goal in the first period to take a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, the Eagles seized momentum and took a 2-1 lead.

Iowa State responded in the third, as senior Scott Hagen got a goal off a deflection to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of regulation.

The score remained tied at 2-2 after the overtime period, so a shootout was necessary to decide the outcome.

Robert Morris converted on one of its shootout opportunities, and the Cyclones were held scoreless, so the Eagles skated away with the win.

The Cyclones next travel to Kent State University for the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament, where, as the No. 7 seed, they face second seed Illinois on Friday in the first round.

Iowa State ended its regular season with a 17-19-1-2 record.