So much for a line change.

Instead, the Iowa State men’s hockey team would definitely take a floating shot for a goal.

David Moline’s floating shot from the red line with 1:23 left in the third period proved to be the game-winning goal as the No. 8 Cyclones defeated American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II foe Oklahoma 3-1 Saturday night at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

With the win, Iowa State is 13-10-2 in the ACHA and Oklahoma is 12-3-1. With the score tied in Saturday’s contest, Moline fired his shot, hoping to get some fresh players on the ice. He was assisted on the play by ISU senior goalie Nolan Thompson.

“I was thinking that I was going to dump it in and get a line change because I was pretty tired,” Moline said.

“Once in a while, we like to throw it on net maybe to see if we get them off-guard. He just missed it, I guess. I really didn’t even see it go in.”

In the first period, Thompson made some big saves including an Oklahoma breakaway attempt, which proved to be the Sooners first big scoring chance of the game. The Cyclones had a 30-12 advantage on shots on goal after the first intermission.

Junior defenseman Mike Moren put Iowa State on the board with 17:03 remaining in the second period as he rebounded a shot for the goal. Juniors Travis Fast and Tim O’Shea both assisted on the play. The Cyclones outshot Oklahoma 12-7 in the second period.

Just seconds after the Cyclones killed an Oklahoma penalty, Kelly Forbes tied the game for the Sooners with 7:35 remaining in the third period.

After Moline’s goal, Fast added an insurance goal with 41.7 seconds left in the game on an assist from junior Scott Hagen and Travis Denzel.

Thompson, who had arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee midway through the first half of the season, finished the game with 22 saves on the night.

“I’m starting to get more comfortable at the net, getting my angles back, looking at the play a lot more,” Thompson said. “They brought out definitely good competition. It’s really good to see a team like that established as well as they are, they really gave us a run for our money and let us know where we’re at.”

ISU head coach Alan Murdoch said Oklahoma has a good squad. The Sooners are in their first year in the ACHA Division II.

“They believe that they’re winners, just like their football program. Give them all the credit in the world,” Murdoch said. “They put together an excellent program in a very short period of time. They had great goaltending both nights.”

Murdoch said he was pleased with his team’s effort on Saturday night.

“Nolan Thompson played really well. I was hoping he’d get the shutout,” Murdoch said. “It’s nice to see a defenseman score the game-winner. We actually work on that shot. One drill a week where we shoot from the red line, and sometimes they go in.”

Both teams battled to a 3-3 tie in the Friday night contest. In Friday’s game, Oklahoma took advantage of a sluggish Cyclone team as it jumped to a 3-1 lead after the first intermission.

However, Iowa State rallied for the tie. The Cyclones had goals from Denzel, Moline and Fast. Fast tied the game on a put-back with a two-man advantage early in the third period. Iowa State out-shot Oklahoma 46-20 in the contest.

As of Nov. 23, the Cyclones were in first place in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League with a 7-4-1 record. Moline said the Cyclones had to step it up in the second half.

“We lost a couple of games that we shouldn’t have,” Moline said. “We’re going to have to go out and beat the Illinois and the Ohios if we want to win the CSCHL. Hopefully we can come out on top in the league.”

This weekend, the Cyclones will host ACHA Division II opponent Minnesota State-Mankato with Friday’s game starting at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday’s beginning at 2 p.m.