Coming off a weekend sweep over the Robert Morris Colonials, Cyclone Hockey looks to keep its three-game winning streak on the move when one of their biggest Central States Collegiate League division rivals, Illinois Fighting Illini, come to Ames for a weekend series. 

Friday night will kick off with Military Appreciation Night; the Cyclones will be wearing camouflage jerseys. The jerseys will be auctioned off following the game.

The Cyclones battled No. 9 Illinois in early November when, coincidentally, it turned out to be the Cyclones’ last sweep prior to last weekend. Back in November, the Fighting Illini were ranked highly in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), but like the Cyclones, they went on a skid and their ranking dropped.

The Fighting Illini are coming off two losses at the hands of Jamestown over the weekend, one of them a shootout loss. The two losses snapped the Fighting Illini’s three-game winning streak. 

A player to watch on the Fighting Illini is forward Robert Ernsting, a native of Naperville, Illinois, who has nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points on the season. Joining Ernsting is defenseman Joe Nolan, who sits just below Ernsting with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points on the season.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.