Cyclone hockey kicked off their 50th season in impressive fashion tonight, receiving contributions from both newcomers and familiar faces en route to a 4-1 victory.

The game did not start in an ideal fashion for the Cyclones, as Jon Severson went to the penalty box for tripping just 35 seconds into the game. However, Iowa State was able to regroup and kill off the penalty with relative ease. 

Things slowed down, until freshman Bronson McLeod re-energized both the crowd and the team with a big hit in front of Iowa State’s net after the midway point in the first. 

With new found momentum, the Cyclones started to get some solid looks before Tony Uglem finally put one past the Redbirds’ goalie Joey Garapolo to make it 1-0 with 4:15 remaining in the first.  A.J. Gullickson and Trevor Sabo picked up assists on the play, and the score would stay that way for the rest of the period.

The second period was all about the goalies, as net minders Derek Moser for the Cyclones and Garapolo for Illinois State both made impressive saves en route to stopping every shot that came their way. Things also started to get chippy with both teams exchanging big hits, one of which led to an injury scare for the Cyclones’ Uglem and an ejection for the Redbirds’ Max Puscheck. 

Uglem would eventually return to the ice, and the score remained 1-0 throughout the entire second. Despite good looks for both teams, and a power play opportunity for the Cyclones.  

In the third, the levee broke for Illinois State and the Cyclones finally started to turn opportunities into goals. The Cyclones broke through by scoring 2 goals in 12 seconds to give Iowa State at 3-0 advantage early in the third. Freshman Bryan Bandyk scored his first career goal off an assist from Ames native Anthony Song, and Uglem got his second of the night off assists from Nick Sandy and Sabo. 

Later in the period, freshman Hunter Dolan scored his first career goal to give the Cyclones a 4-0 advantage. The score nearly stayed that way the rest of the game, but a late penalty by Bandyk for charging gave the Redbirds a power play opportunity, which they converted to spoil Moser’s shutout.  It was the only blemish in an otherwise excellent performance for the senior goaltender, as the Cyclones took the first game of the series 4-1 a minute and 23 seconds later.

Cyclone hockey will be back in action on Saturday at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.