A case of fatigue was the key factor in a win for the Cyclone Hockey team over the recently undefeated Waldorf Warriors. The Warriors, who had a shortened bench with just thirteen forwards and defensemen, was overcome with what looked like exhaustion that became more prevalent as the game went on.

Both teams came out playing hard in the first period, but it was the Cyclones who looked sluggish as the Warriors struck first blood.

“From a territorial standpoint, I thought we sort of dominated, we just didn’t execute.” said coach Jason Fairman.

The first goal of the game came from Warriors freshman Braeden Pierce, who scored on a breakaway after Cyclone forward/defensemen Anthony Song gave the puck away in the neutral zone.

The Cyclones got things rolling early just 4:16 into the second frame when junior forward Aaron Azevedo scored the Cyclones first goal of the game, assisted by Tony Uglem and Kody Reuter. The second goal came towards the middle of the second period when Junior Tony Uglem, a team leading goal scorer for the past two years, put one behind Warrior netminder Jeffrey Veitch.

The third period was nothing short of a Cyclone domination. The Warriors, plagued with fatigue, seemed to slow down as the Cyclones scored four goals.

The first one coming from freshman Max Olson, a former Peoria Mustang from Northfield, Minnesota. The goal gave the Cyclones a 3-1 advantage over the Warriors, who later in the period would give up three more goals, two of them on power play, to Reuter, Trevor Sabo and Tommy Hanson.

“It’s good for a freshman to get it out of the way and now we can move on to the next one.” Fairman said.

Even though the Cyclones dominated the Warriors who looked to be fatigued during the game with a score of 6-1, Fairman still thinks the team could do better when they head to Albert Lea, Minnesota, to play the second game in a home and home series.

“We’re not even close to being the team we need to be” Fairman said. “We got away with some things that we might not have been able to get away with because they did look tired.”

The puck drops for the second of the two games in a home and home series against the Warriors tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where the Cyclones look to continue to dominate once again.