Even after dropping two games in the American Collegiate Hockey Association national tournament, held at Ohio University last week, the ISU men’s hockey team is already thinking about the future.

ISU head coach Alan Murdoch said the team is already building for next season.

“We had a tremendous season. I was real pleased,” Murdoch said. “We’re a youthful team and they matured throughout the season and at the tournament.”

Murdoch’s son, Andrew, is one of the few seniors on the team.

Sophomore forward Tim O’Shea, who will try to help anchor the team next season, said he’s already excited about what the future holds.

Despite the final results in the tournament, he said the team is happy with how the season went.

“Knowing that we were a young team, we’re happy with our performance this season,” O’Shea said. “Teams are going to be gunning for us [next season]. We’re looking forward to kicking some butt and getting first place next season.”

In the first game on Thursday afternoon, the Cyclones were defeated by Eastern Michigan 4-2. Iowa State jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 14:45 in the first period on a goal by Zach Peterson off an assist from Brent Popadych. But Eastern Michigan scored two goals in the first and one in the second period to build a 3-1 lead.

Just 21 seconds into the third period, Travis Denzel scored unassisted to cut the lead to 3-2 but it wasn’t enough as Eastern Michigan handed the Cyclones their first loss of the tournament.

Despite outshooting Eastern Michigan 26-24, Iowa State had a rough time in the power play, going 0-for-5.

“We came out flat in the first and second period,” O’Shea said. “We played our type of hockey in the third period, but coming out flat was one of the reasons why we didn’t capitalize on the power play.

“Scoring first was a huge momentum for us, but they kept coming back.”

On Friday afternoon, the Cyclones had the three-time defending ACHA champions Penn State on the ropes. ISU built a 2-0 in the third period. However, a couple of questionable calls led to two Cyclone penalties in the final minutes of the game. Those penalties would help the Nittany Lions as they tied the game at 2-2 in regulation and would end up winning the game 3-2.

“I usually don’t say this, but the officiating had an impact in the game,” Alan Murdoch said. “It was the closest game that Penn State had in the tournament. The team as a whole played really well against them.”

The Nittany Lions won the championship game for the fourth consecutive year as they defeated Ohio University 5-0.

With the two losses, Iowa State finished its season at 26-18-2.