For the second game in a row, Cyclone Hockey gave their fans some anxiety by allowing an opponent to get back into the game in the final minutes of the third period.

However, just like the last time, the Cyclones were ultimately able to hold on for another victory, making it their third win in a row. It wasn’t in the prettiest of fashions, but Iowa State was able to improve their record to 9-2-0 on the season by defeating No. 14 UNLV by a score of 5-3.

While head coach Jason Fairman was happy to come away with a win over a quality opponent, he was understandably disappointed at the team’s performance at the end of the game on Friday night.

“They’ve got to understand the moment and critical situations like that and bear down,” Fairman said. “My message to the team after the game was that we had some letdowns and we didn’t recognize the moment and time of the game and how critical things were, and they sneaked back.”

The Cyclones started off the game by controlling the puck for a good chunk of the first period, and eventually struck first when Adam Alcott put a shot in between the right arm and leg pads of UNLV goalie Mike McDaniel, giving the Cyclones a 1-0 lead that they would take into the first intermission.

The goal comes on the heels of a good series by Alcott last weekend against Arkansas, where he was named the team’s player of the week after leading the team in scoring over the two games. While it took some time to happen, Alcott says that his recent scoring surge is a direct result of he and his line mates finally getting a feel for each other.

“The season started off a little rough for me and my line, but now that we’re all kind of gelling it works a lot better,” Alcott said. “It’s nice to see the goals go in.”

The end of the second period saw the Cyclones still clinging to a one goal lead, but not without some controversy. After Colton Kramer for Iowa State and Ellijiah Barriga for UNLV each scoring goals to make the game 2-1, the Cyclones thought they had scored their second power play goal of the period with 2.5 seconds remaining to make the game 3-1. The referees, however, waived off the goal because of a dislodged net.

After the game, Fairman stated that he was frustrated with the officials and  thought that the crew made several questionable calls throughout the game. He was particularly upset with the disallowed goal, which he said by the letter of the law should have counted. Even after bringing out a rule book to back up his case, the officials still ultimately ruled that the goal didn’t count. 

“I know officials are trying to do their best, but that’s frustrating when you get a goal right at the end of the period,” Fairman said. “I think that would have changed a lot of things when we came out for the third.”

In the third, the Cyclones eventually would get their 3-1 lead when Trevor Sabo scored at the 12:39 mark in the period. From there, what was already a chippy game only continued to get even more so, and the Cyclones paid the price by getting sucked in and committing multiple penalties.

While some of the penalties could arguably relate back to the aforementioned questionable officiating, Sabo said that the Cyclones still share plenty of responsibility for their penalty woes, and that it’s an area that the team needs to improve on going forward. 

“We do need to be better, myself included,” Sabo said. “We just need to be a little bit more poised when it comes to the end of games.

Despite the penalties that they committed, the Cyclones shined when it was the Rebels committing the penalties. Iowa State scored three power play goals on the night, including an empty-net goal in the third period by Kody Reuter to make the game 4-2 late in the third. 

While the Rebels gave the Cyclones a scare by scoring again with a under a minute left to make it 4-3, Iowa State was able to get one last empty-netter for good measure from Aaron Azevedo 44 seconds later to give the game it’s final score of 5-3. The win gave the 12th ranked Cyclones their third victory this season over a top 20 opponent.

The two teams will be back in action again tomorrow night at Ames/ISU Ice Arena, with the puck dropping at 7:30 p.m.