Cyclone Hockey hit the road over the weekend to Bensenville, Illinois, to face off against the Robert Morris University-Illinois Eagles in a CSCHL matchup. The Cyclones split the road series, picking up a 3-2 win on Friday and dropping the game on Saturday 3-0. The Saturday loss ended a six-game winning streak that the Cyclones had started when they beat Ohio in October.

Friday night saw a two-goal performance from senior forward Tony Uglem with fellow senior forward Aaron Azevedo scoring one goal of his own. The three goals led the Cyclones to the Friday night win.

The Eagles responded to the Friday night game by shutting out the Cyclones offensively and putting up a three-goal period on Saturday.

“They got a couple of key goals that maybe they didn’t get on Friday night and we missed out on some opportunities,” said coach and general manager Jason Fairman. “I think a little bit of frustration set in with us with some great scoring chances that we couldn’t convert on.”

With the weekend split, the Cyclones end the first half of the season with a 10-4 record, holding the No. 5 spot in the ACHA Men’s Division I rankings. While there’s always room for improvement, there’s an overall feeling of satisfaction for how the first half of the season has gone.

While the Cyclones hold a 12-4 record, it’s to be noted that the only four losses on the record come from CSCHL teams. The Cyclones are currently 2-4 in league play through the first half of the season.

The first series of league games came on the road against Lindenwood on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, where the Cyclones dropped both games. The next series of league games came at home against Ohio on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, where the Cyclones would drop the first game and bounce back in the second game. The final series of league games in the first half of the schedule came from the weekend split with Robert Morris. The only team that Iowa State has yet to play this year is Illinois, who they will see in late January.

The second half of the season will see the Cyclones on the road at Missouri State, a home stretch against Robert Morris, Illinois, Lindenwood and Colorado State, followed by an away stretch against Ohio and Illinois and ending things with a home game against Central Oklahoma.

“We’re used to playing tough games anytime we play a league rival and the last 3-4 seasons our league has come down to our last weekend,” Fairman said. “I think we’ll be there when it’s all said and done.”

With the conclusion of the weekend against Robert Morris, the Cyclones now face some extended time off the ice. The Cyclones don’t play another game from the remainder of November and the entirety of December while students are off with break. The next set of games aren’t until Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 when the Cyclones will be on the road to face Missouri State. But until then, the Cyclones have about a month and a half off from competition.

“It’s good and bad. It’s a little bit longer than what we’re used to, normally we have a few games in between Thanksgiving break and then winter break,” said senior goaltender Matt Goedeke. “To our advantage, we basically get a month and a half of rest, recover, kind of regroup and we should be full of energy and ready to go on a pretty good run going into playoff time of the season.”