Just a year ago, Cyclone Hockey reigned champion of the 2017 CSCHL tournament held in Bensenville, Illinois, the home of this year’s first opponent, the Robert Morris Eagles.

The luck continued this year as it was a one and done for the Eagles, dropping their first game of the tournament to the Cyclones in a high scoring game of 6-3.

In what seemed like a case of fatigue or the “bus legs,” the Cyclones had a frustrating first period.

“It might have been the bus legs,” said Cyclone head coach and general manager Jason Fairman. “But through the rest of the game we had some good play and good goaltending and were able to weather through the second and third.”

Not able to generate anything early, the Cyclones were put on an early power play thanks to a Robert Morris penalty, but ran into a wall of a good defensive penalty kill for the Eagles, something that has been a consistent strong point all season.

Without goaltender Derek Moser, the Cyclones possibly could have been in a much worse position.

“If he didn’t give us saves, this game could have gone in a completely different direction,” Fairman said.

Moser was a brick wall in goal, stopping a whopping 14 shots from the Eagles halfway through the first, but eventually let the first one in by Eagles forward Sam Turner.

A tricky play as it was a shot coming from center ice, a weird bounce that was redirected high over Moser’s shoulder to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Heading into the second, it seemed like whatever was going on in the first period was put completely behind the Cyclones. Moser again stood his ground and was able to pull the Cyclones out of some potentially messy situations.

A very quick-paced game, the Cyclones were able to make a pushback after not getting the start they wanted in the first period. The Cyclones looked like a completely different team, realizing that this was a win or go home tournament.

“We had a stern message for them between the first and second period,” Fairman said. “The guys had to dig deep, and they did.”

A very physical third period, it was evident that the two teams did not like each other. Closing out the game, the Cyclones were able to add two more goal from Uglem and Severson to make the final score 6-3, eliminating the Eagles from the tournament.

Fairman is confident he knows what his team needs to do and is clear on what he expects from them saying, “We just need to bring the effort and play our game.”

The Cyclones face the Lindenwood Lions tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. for the second game of the CSCHL tournament. The Cyclones battled the Lions two times earlier this season, including being swept the second time they met.