Cyclone hockey is coming off a successful weekend. The Cyclones beat Illinois State in two games. The Cyclones are back home this weekend, where they will play two games against the University of Alabama.

While there was good to take away from both games, the Cyclones looked to improve themselves this week during practice.

“We’re settling in and getting into a weekly routine,” said Jason Fairman, coach and general manager.

The Cyclones offense and special teams played well in their last games at home. The Cyclones out scored Illinois State 11-5 with their special teams scoring on half of their power plays and going 5-of-6 on penalties killed.

“We’re making progress as we should week-to-week,” Fairman said, “We’re optimistic about this weekend and hopefully we keep building on what we’ve done so far this year.”

As the Cyclones continue to move along in their schedule, the competition gets more difficult.

In the most recently updated American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men’s Division I Rankings, Alabama made the top 25 at No. 22. Iowa State is ahead of Alabama, sitting at No. 11.

“I think we’ll be able to prevail in both games, that’s our goal,” Fairman said. “We can’t take anybody lightly, it should be two good games.”

The series against Alabama are the last two games before they play their first series of league games. The first series of Central States Collegiate Hockey League for Iowa State starts in Wentzville, Missouri, where they will play Lindenwood University. The Cyclones look to keep up their success against Alabama and into future games.

“We’d like to be undefeated going into league play,” Fairman said.

The first game against Alabama will start at 7:30 p.m. Friday inside the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.