The ISU club hockey team experienced an up-and-down weekend as they split a pair of games on their first road trip of the season.

The first game was a back-and-forth tussle between the Cyclones and Michigan-Dearborn Friday, with Iowa State winning 5-4 in overtime. The Cyclones then played Eastern Michigan Saturday and fell 7-1.

After the ‘Clones bolted ahead of the Wolves 3-0, UMD mounted a scoring spree to take the lead late in the third, 4-3. A goal in the final minute tied the score, and another last minute goal in the extra session gave the visitors a huge league win.

“It was a very difficult situation to find ourselves in,” said ISU Assistant Coach Randy Daley. “I give full credit to our guys for taking their game to the next level and never quitting.”

Jason McCollum and Jeff Smith scored late in the first period to give Iowa State a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Jeff Smith’s goal with six minutes gone in the second put the visiting team up by three.

UMD adjusted and attacked their opponent’s game plan. The Wolves hit twine three times in an eight-minute span to tie the contest at 3-3.

With three and a half minutes left in the game, the home team went up 4-3.

“We got up early, and then sat back,” said ISU forward Glenn Detulleo. “It just shows that in this league, any team can come back.”

Next, it was the Cyclones turn to come back, as Andrew Murdoch put his team back on the board. The goal, with just over thirty seconds left in the game, tied the score at 4-4, forcing a five-minute overtime.

A man down with less than a minute left in the extra frame, the ‘Clones found a way to win as Mark Krueger guided the puck past the goalkeeper for the 5-4 final.

“The team showed a lot of character,” Detulleo said. “We now know that we can adapt fairly quickly when we get off track.”

“Everybody had a positive attitude even though we were losing,” said ISU defenseman Phil Hummel. “We knew that something big was going to happen.”

On Saturday, Iowa State went to Ann Arbor to battle Eastern Michigan, who only had one loss on the season. The Eagles got on the board early and often, scoring three times in the first period and four times in the second.

The lone Cyclone goal was scored by Mark Krueger midway through the third period. The Eagles, who had only allowed 1.3 goals per game coming into the weekend, outshot Iowa State 42-27.

“We got off to a very slow start and they capitalized very quickly on that,” Daley said. “Basically, they choked us out of any scoring chances we had.”

“Their forwards are probably faster than any other team we’ve faced so far,” Hummel said. “They were swarming the puck the whole game.”

With the win Friday, the Cyclones took an eight-game winning streak into their face-off with the pre-season CSCHL favorite.

“Saturday, we had a lack of focus,” Detulleo said. “[The streak] had us a little too relaxed. When you’re on such a streak, you don’t notice the small mistakes, and they caught up to us.”

“You can’t just show up to a game,” Daley said, “you must show up and play the game.”

“It set a benchmark for us,” Hummel said. “It showed us how good we can be and how hard we need to work to have an opportunity to win the national championship.”

For the rookies of the team, this trip was the first of many in their ISU careers.

“Most of the new players didn’t know what to expect,” Detulleo said. “They didn’t know how tough the teams were until we played them.”

“A lot of the rookies got a lot of experience on this trip,” said Hummel, a rookie himself.

The Cyclones will head north again next week to oppose rival school Minot State. The two teams split a two-game series earlier this season in Ames.

“We know what to expect from Minot,” Detulleo said, “We have to work hard if we’re going to get two wins.”