The Iowa State University hockey team was in action for the first time this season on Friday with their Cardinal and Gold game, and there was plenty of scoring to be found.  

The Cardinal and Gold game is new this year for Cyclone Hockey. The team usually plays the Huntsville Havoc in an exhibition match to start the season, but the Havoc put the series on hold for this year.  This gave coach Jason Fairman a chance to evaluate more players, albeit at the expense of a more competitive game.

“The only advantage is that more guys get an opportunity to play, where as when we played Huntsville when they had their camp here, it was more competitive and more like a game situation,” Fairman said.

The game started at a breakneck pace, with three goals being scored in the first ten minutes of the opening period.  Tony Uglem got the Gold team off to a quick start by scoring the first goal within the first three minutes of the period, and Jon Seaverson added another goal shortly after to bring the score to 2-0.

Jared Erickson got one back for the Cardinal team with 10:52 remaining in the first period to bring the score to 2-1.  The two teams then spent the rest of the period going back and forth, but neither were able to convert on some good looks.

 The first period ended with the Gold team holding a 2-1 lead in the game and a 12-7 edge on shots.

The second period didn’t start any better for the Cardinal team, as a two-on-one opportunity early on led to some excellent chances, which ultimately resulted in a goal for the Gold team by Ben Sarbacker.  A penalty by Justin Brown shortly afterward led to a power play goal for the Gold team’s Tommy Hanson, who also assisted on the Sarbacker goal, to make it a 4-1 game in favor of the Gold team.

The Cardinal team finally got one back after a couple of chances when Colton Kramer scored a goal with 7:15 remaining in the period to bring it to 4-2.  From there until the end of the period, play was pretty even.  The Gold team ultimately ended the period with a slight 15-13 advantage in shots on goal.

The third period was considerably more quiet, with only one goal scored and no penalties in 20 minutes of play.  Brian Bunten scored the only goal of the period on a breakaway with 11:08 remaining.  

Both teams had some good chances after that, but the goal tending from Alex Olson of the Cardinal team and David Volkmann of the Gold team was strong to close out the game.  The game ended in a 5-2 victory for the Gold team, with five different players scoring the five goals.

Overall, the night was more about evaluation and seeing the players in game-like situations than it was the final score, something that Fairman says was accomplished.  However, Fairman also stressed that it’s hard to know where his team is truly at at this stage, given that the team hasn’t had a chance to play other teams yet.

“It wasn’t as intense as it’s going to be, so it’s hard to project how a player might be once he’s [going against] better players that are more intense and are more physical,” Fairman said. “So, I’ve got to try and figure out and project where that next level might be for a guy.”

Iowa State will be back in action next Friday, Sept. 22 against Illinois State in Ames.