Bringing back experience on the ice, the ISU women’s hockey team will open their home schedule this weekend against Colorado.

Last season, Colorado defeated Iowa State twice — 2-1 and 4-2 in the Cyclone Invitational.

“We skated with Colorado last year for a couple of games,” assistant coach and faculty adviser Mike Owen said. “A couple of games, they blew us out. We’re kind of looking to do a much better job of taking care of business on Friday. They’re going to be surprised at how well we’ve skated.”

Friday’s game is at 9:30 p.m., Saturday’s contest is at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday’s game starts at 10 a.m. All games will be played at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

Owen said if the team wants to defeat Colorado, they must be disciplined. He also said the defense must improve overall on their techniques.

“That’s going to be the real key. Our defense is going to be the huge thing for us right now, just taking care of the puck in the defensive zone,” Owen said. “Colorado is big and has strong skaters. If we don’t pick up a little bit on defense and if we don’t do a particularly a good job of taking care of the puck in the defensive zone, then they’re going to eat us up. And that’s something that we worked on in practice this week.”

The Cyclones finished last season with a record of 13-11-1 overall, 4-9-1 in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Junior center/left winger Katie Dunn said she is excited for the rest of the season.

“We’ve got a lot more experience this year,” said Dunn, who had 15 goals and 25 assists last season. “We have more players then we’ve had. Colorado is always good, but I think especially this year we have a really good chance of beating them. It’s probably a better chance then we’ve ever had before.”

Also returning for the Cyclones is sophomore center Kara Thompson, who set an ISU women’s hockey record for goals in a season with 36 last year. She also added 14 assists.

Seniors Katie Sullivan, Jessica Lohry and Abbie Faulds, along with sophomore Mallory Przybylski, have already been making solid contributions this season. Sophomore goaltender Justine Skibbe posted eight shutouts last season and had saved 92 percent of shots taken on her.

Skibbe said the team plans on having a better defense then last season.

“We’re going to be playing a lot of higher-caliber teams,” Skibbe said. “So we have to be careful that we don’t have too much confidence coming in. If we get some of the kinks worked out, our defense is going to be pretty good this year.”

Through the first three games of this season, the Cyclones have easily managed to accumulate three wins and outscore their opponents 31-3. Thompson is leading the team with seven goals, followed by freshman center/left winger Christine Williams with six. Lowry has added five goals.

In their first contest, the Cyclones defeated the Des Moines Storm 7-1, with Thompson tallying a hat trick. The team is coming off wins over Wisconsin-Whitewater (13-1, 11-1) last weekend.

In last Friday’s contest against Wisconsin-Whitewater, senior Anne Friedrichsen broke her collarbone.

“That was not a good thing,” Owen said. “It was a freak accident. She just felt hard on the ice. We’re hoping that Anne will be back in about six weeks.”

Owen said he’s happy with how the team has balanced scoring early in the season.

“We’re considerably ahead in regard to talent. We’re, across the board, much better skaters then what we were last season,” Owen said. “We’ve got a couple of lines that we’ve put together that can both go to the hole.”

Owen also is pleased with a couple of players’ ability to face tough competition.

“Erin Enger on defense is playing great for us. She’s real aggressive, very quick, excellent skater,” Owen said. “Christine Williams is tough. She basically has the nose for the net.”

The Cyclones hope to make it to the national tournament this season.

“I think that, most of all, we want to go to Nationals,” Dunn said. “I know we’re that good. I think we can make it.”