Cyclone Hockey went on its last road trip of the regular season to Champaign, Illinois, this Friday and Saturday, to face the University of Illinois.

It proved to be a tough weekend for the Cyclones as they fell 4-3 to the Fighting Illini in overtime on Friday night and 3-1 on Saturday night.

The Cyclones swept the Illini at their home series against them in January, but weren’t able to do the same this weekend.

The Fighting Illini took the lead first in both games, but the Cyclones evened the score quickly on multiple occasions throughout the weekend.

After the Illini tallied first on Friday night, junior forward Jackson Graalum tied the game at 1-1 just minutes later. When the Illini struck back again, the Cyclones did the same, courtesy of senior forward Colton Kramer.

Similarly on Saturday night, Illinois scored first on the power play late in the first period, but Kramer tied the game just 1:02 into the second period on the man advantage.

The Cyclones saw a lot more offense this weekend in Illinois, tallying four goals on 61 total shots throughout the weekend.

While they may not have gotten the results in the win column, they certainly improved from last weekend, when they scored just one goal in two games against a tough No. 4 Ohio team.

Now, the Cyclones must put these road trips behind them and prepare for another tough battle at home against No. 10 Central Oklahoma.

Next weekend will mark the end of the regular season, and the Cyclones will aim to pick up two wins against a team they’ve seen already this season, before heading into the postseason.

The Cyclones swept Central Oklahoma on the road back in November and hope to do the exact same thing going forward to end the regular season on a high note.