A bitter rival made this past weekend hard to handle for the Iowa State hockey team. Minot State, a long-time adversary of the Cyclones, swept a two-game series from the cardinal and gold in North Dakota last weekend.

The Beavers swept the weekend series by 8-4 and 8-2 scores.

The Beavers came out early in the series and took control Friday night, scoring four goals in the first 12 minutes of the contest.

“They came out very aggressive right off the bat,” ISU goaltender Phil Popp said. “We came out a little tense and just didn’t react to well to them.”

“That was the big difference in the game,” Coach Al Murdoch said of the barrage of goals. “It’s hard to come back from that.”

Iowa State started to rally and got as close as 6-4 in the third period before Minot closed out the game with two scores for an 8-4 win.

Scott Steinkamp showed the most offensive presence Friday, scoring two goals. Mike Gilbertson and Mark Krueger added power play goals to their season stats.

Saturday, the dominance continued as Minot played an even stingier defensive game. Gilbertson and Jeremy Meyer accounted for the only Cyclone tallies in an 8-2 loss.

One reason for the success of the Beavers was goalkeeping. Back on Sept. 30th at the Ames Ice Arena, the Beavers allowed only one goal to the Clones offense.

“We outshot them two out of the three periods on both nights,” Murdoch said, “but we saw some very strong goaltending in those games.”

With Tony Daniels, Jeff Smith and Nat Little sidelined with injuries, the Beavers attacked the somewhat depleted opposition.

“They definitely changed their game plan,” Popp said, referring to the teams first meeting in Ames. “They shut our front lines down and took out our big guns.”

“You always want a full team with you,” ISU forward Rob Purviance said. “It’s not to big of a problem, though. We all know what we’re supposed to be doing when we get in the game.”

As for the offensive explosion, Coach Murdoch noted the numerous chances that the Beavers had around the net.

“We did allow some rebounds, and we can’t give up that many,” he said. “Our defenders mark up on a man so that they can’t get those opportunities.”

Sunday, the scene shifted to Aberdeen, S.D. where Iowa State battled against a young Northern State team. Fortunes also shifted as the Cyclones found their offensive presence, snapping their three-game losing streak with a 6-3 win.

The win was a needed one, but also a tired one.

“We got back to the hotel (in Minot) at about 11:30 (Saturday) night and woke up at about 4:00 (Sunday) morning,” Popp said. “We were really tired, but we pulled together as a team.”

Purviance led the scoring for the visitors with a two-goal performance. The goals were the first scores of his young Cyclone career.

“I was getting kind of antsy,” he said. “It was nice to start a scoring run for the team.”

Along with the freshman forward, Gilbertson, Krueger, Steinkamp and Pat Roberts lit up the scoreboard.

Despite the mixed results, a lot came out of this weekend for the squad.

“I thought we played pretty solid, but we also saw some quality competition,” Murdoch said. “Playing three games in three days was good for our guys. It made them dig down a little deeper.”

“It’s been kind of fun,” Purviance said. “This gives us a chance to grow together as a team.”

“We were focused, but we didn’t bring our best game against Minot,” Popp said. “We just had a rough weekend.”

Iowa State will try to build on their latest win this weekend as they return to the Ames Ice Arena. The Cyclones will play against Colorado State at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.