While Friday the 13th proved to be nothing but good luck for the Iowa State hockey team, it was Saturday the 14th that hexed the Cyclones.

The Cyclones (5-1) were once again convincing in victory on Friday when they dispelled legend University of Michigan-Dearborn Wolves in spite of a lax beginning.

Led by sophomore defenseman Rusty Crawford’s two goals, ISU bedeviled the Wolves, 6-5, on the most superstitious day of the year.

Sophomore forward Jason Vega scored just 52 seconds into the game in one of the few bright spots for the Cyclones during a sluggish opening period.

Despite the quick strike, ISU trailed 3-1 in the second before freshman forward Chris Poli and Crawford tallied goals to even the score.

The Cyclones finished out the strong second period when sophomore forward Mike Ogbourne skated through the Michigan defense and beat goalie Mark Tapp at 11:02 to give ISU a 4-3 lead.

Head Coach Al Murdoch was pleased by the way his team responded after the slow start.

“The second period we came out and played the body a little more, played a little cleaner,” Murdoch said. “They made a good adjustment.”

Crawford expressed that it was frustration that drove the Cyclones to improve their performance.

“We went out there, and we stepped up the tempo a little bit, because we were all pretty frustrated with the fact that none of us could get our feet going in the first period,” Crawford said.

After the Wolves deadlocked the score early in the third, Crawford tipped in a shot at 5:33 to give the Cyclones a 5-4 lead that they would never relinquish.

Junior forward Doug Borud added what would turn out to be the game-winning goal at 12:08 of the final period to put ISU on top, 6-4.

Senior goalie Kyle Geiger turned away 27 shots and was especially clutch during the Cyclones’ initial struggles.

Murdoch was thrilled at the play of his goaltender.

“Geiger was outstanding in the net,” Murdoch said. “He held us in there and made it a close one.”

Crawford agreed, “I just give credit to everyone on the team, especially the goalies, for keeping us in there.”

Behind stifling goaltending of their own, the Eastern Michigan University Eagles exploded for four unanswered goals in the third period to hand ISU their first loss of the year, 6-3, on Saturday night.

Murdoch confirmed that the third session was definitely the deciding point in the contest.

“I give great credit to Eastern Michigan,” Murdoch said. “They came out, and they really played a super third period.

“We really haven’t had a flat period in the first six games, but I think we were a little bit flat there.”

Borud agreed that the final session was the game’s turning point.

“Eastern Michigan came out with intensity,” the Cyclone captain said. “They’re a good team, and they beat us today in the third period.”

The night didn’t start badly for ISU, as they jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Vega and Poli.

After the Eagles knotted the score 2-2 at 7:05 of the second, Borud returned the lead to ISU when he beat Eastern netminder Russ Andrews on a breakaway at the 16:31 mark.

Eastern Michigan wasted little time in beginning their third period assault when they tied the game, 3-3, just 32 seconds into the term and then put things out of reach when they bested Cyclone goalie Rob Howitt for three goals in just over three minutes beginning at the 6:08 point.

Even in the loss, Borud felt that the team played good and will move on.

“We played well, but we didn’t play well enough to beat them,” Borud said. “We’ll just use this as a builder game.”

Murdoch agreed and said that it’s games like this that build character.

“It’s tough, but you try to build on it,” Murdoch said. “We’ll bounce back.”