Coming off an exciting 5-4 overtime win against the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos, Cyclone Hockey looked to add another win against the defending American Collegiate Hockey Association national champions. A win would give the Cyclones their first series win since the first week of November.

Iowa State goaltender Derek Moser got his second start of the series after giving up four goals the previous night. Just like Friday’s game, the Bronchos got things going with a goal fairly early when Brandon Formosa put a shot low on Moser’s glove side to make the score 1-0.

“They were beating us to a lot of pucks for a good portion of the game,” said  coach Jason Fairman.

With a shortened bench the night before, a difference in pace was seen for Central Oklahoma as there was a lot of back and forth play, creating a fast paced game.

”We had forwards playing defense, a lot of similar issues that [the Bronchos] were experiencing last game,” Fairman said. 

Formosa was able to add his second goal of the night when he put one home behind Moser to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Cyclones did not have a chance to split the score in half after the Bronchos were able to make the score 3-0, just 57 seconds into the second period when forward Nial Mills scored on the doorstep after a cross ice pass from Donald Danroth.

The Cyclones had a difficult time gaining puck possession in the middle frame and it was easy to see as the Bronchos were able to add yet another goal. The goal pushed their lead to 4-0 after forward Gage Joel went top shelf on Moser, giving the Cyclones an even bigger hole to dig out of.

Iowa State found itself on its defensive heels late in the second when the Bronchos were able to put on the pressure, but the Cyclones were lucky enough to defend them off, keeping the score 4-0 heading into the final intermission. At this point, the Bronchos led the game in shots 21-15.

The Cyclones were finally able to get on the board just 46 seconds into the third period when forward Colton Kramer was able to put one behind the Bronchos goalie to spoil the chances of a shutout. There were an abundance of Cyclone bodies in front of the net creating traffic for the puck to sneak into the net, shallowing the Cyclones deficit to 4-1.

There were multiple chances for the Cyclones to come back during the rest of the final period, but it was not enough as the Cyclones ended up dropping the game to the Broncos by a score of 4-1. This was the first loss for the Cyclones of the spring semester.

“We need to get healthy and have a full roster,” Fairman said. “Beyond that, we need to get back to playing the game we are known for.

“We have had glimpses of that, but we just need to be consistent.”