Cyclone Hockey returns to action this weekend following an end-of-semester break that was desperately needed.

The Cyclones haven’t taken the ice since its 7-3 loss at the hands of Indiana Tech on Dec. 9, 2017, which was the team’s sixth straight. This came after Iowa State started the season in the top five and jumped out to a 12-3-0-1 record.

For a team whose yearly expectation is a national title, a losing streak this long is especially rare and frustrating. However, Cyclone head coach and general manager Jason Fairman said that his team has nonetheless managed to return from break rejuvenated and refocused for the season’s stretch run.

“Definitely there’s a renewed enthusiasm and certainly there’s optimism,” Fairman said. “[The second semester] goes by pretty quickly and I think the guys realize that.”

The optimism coming from the Cyclones certainly has merit, as the break allowed the struggling and injury-plagued squad a chance to get healthy and rested. As a result, the team will have as much depth and as close to a full roster as it has had in months for this weekend’s series.

Iowa State will need those extra bodies as the team begins a brutal stretch of play in which they play four straight series against top-10 teams, starting this weekend when the team travels to Edmond, Oklahoma, to take on defending national champion Central Oklahoma.

Coincidentally, the Cyclones’ last victory came against this same Central Oklahoma squad nearly two months ago. Back on the weekend of Nov. 10, 2017, the Cyclones and Bronchos split of a pair of games in Ames, with Iowa State taking the second game of the series by a score of 4-3.

This weekend will be the eighth and ninth meetings between the two teams in just over a calendar year. With that type of familiarity, surprises are usually hard to come by and as a result, the games outcome often hinges on which team takes advantage of limited opportunities.

This is something that the Cyclones will be looking to improve on this time around against UCO, as the team suffered a 2-0 shutout in the opening game of the first series against Bronchos despite playing even with them most of the night.

“We know in those tight games, you’re only going to have a chance or two,” said junior forward Aaron Azevedo. “We need to make them count this time.”

Ordinarily, the Bronchos are able to overwhelm teams with their speed and tenacity, but the Cyclones proved in the last series, as well as the past few seasons, that they’re able to match up fairly well with the faster players on UCO’s roster.

However, with a 10-hour bus ride to Edmond, the Cyclones will have their work cut out for them if they want to keep up this time around.

Even though “bus legs” are generally a concern with long road trips, perhaps what could even the playing field in this series is the rust factor.

While the Cyclones haven’t played since Dec. 8, the Bronchos actually started their winter break the week before, meaning that the home team hasn’t played a game in over a month.

With such a long gap, it’s entirely possible that the Cyclones may be able to pounce on a potentially sluggish start from the Bronchos.

However, Iowa State isn’t banking on that happening, as Cyclones senior defenseman and captain Kody Reuter cited UCO’s experience and pedigree as reasons to expect the opposition to come out firing.

If and when that does happen, Reuter said that the Cyclones’ own time off, in addition to the team’s preparation over the past week, will have players ready for the Bronchos and that rust won’t hinder his squad either.

“We had just enough rest to get healthy,” said Reuter. “We started to get our feet under us and started to feel comfortable with the puck again, so I think everyone is going to be well rested and ready to play.”