Cyclone Hockey got things started off right in the first game of their series against Minot State University. The No. 9 Cyclones ended the game on Friday with a 3-1 win over the No. 6 Beavers.

Struggling with playing behind over the past few weekends, the Cyclones made it their goal to start off the game strong and that they did.

The Cyclones struck quick with a goal from sophomore forward Hunter Dolan only 1:48 into the first period. From there, the Cyclones held on to the lead to the 1-0 lead, even with multiple great scoring opportunities.

“Our goal tonight was to go out and get the first goal,” said senior forward Aaron Azevedo. “It was nice to be able to check that off our list after the first period.”

The second period started much like the first, but this time it was freshman forward Nick Rogers who scored only 1:43 into the second period. Again, despite the early goal, they weren’t able to find the back of the net again in the second period.

Azevedo kept the trend going as he scored in just 1:06 into the third period. Much like the first period and second period, the Cyclones didn’t find the back of the net after the quick goal.

All three goals to start each period came in under two minutes of the period starting. Azevedo led the Cyclones in points with two coming from his goal and an assist to Rogers.

“The guys set three goals for themselves as a team at our pregame meeting,” said coach and general manager Jason Fairman. “One of them was to get the first goal of the game and they accomplished that.”

The Cyclone defense more than held up their own end with a strong outing from senior goaltender Matt Goedeke.

Goedeke and the Cyclone defense proved to be a problem for the opposing Beaver offense. Goedeke was perfect through the first two periods of play, shutting out the Beaver offense during then, with big help from the rest of the Cyclone defense.

“A lot of their chances they were one-and-done, one shot and that was it,” Goedeke said. “That’s all I had to worry about. They were picking up sticks back door, clearing out shooting lanes so I could see the puck from the point. The team really stepped it up.”

Minot State was able to answer halfway through the third period with their first and only goal of the game, however the Cyclone defense still proved to be too much.

Goedeke ended the game with 36 saves on 37 shots during his full 60 minutes of play, only letting one go past him.

“Matt did a nice job for us, he made some key saves,” Fairman said. “I think as a team we did a pretty good job getting sticks, keeping them outside the house, because they’re a talented team.”