No. 8 Cyclone Hockey played its first game of the semester on Friday, losing to No. 17 Illnois 4-1 at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

The Illini struck first on a re-directed goal by Tyler Opilka, taking an early 1st period lead. They followed it up with a controversial second goal. The entire Cyclone Hockey bench seemed to think it was an easy offsides call.

Nevertheless, Cyclone Hockey was down 2-0 at the first intermission.

The second period was just as eventful. The Cyclones came out firing, with a goal by Alex Grupe just 2:17 into it. The Cyclones hit the post on another shot less than a minute later, but would fail to score for the rest of the frame.

Illinois, however, kept pace. The Illini used a shorthanded goal by Chance Homerin to take back the two goal lead midway through the period.

Later on Jake Arroyo was given a game misconduct for contact to the head, and Nick Sandy was called for high sticking. The Cyclones skated on a penalty kill for five minutes, eventually giving up a goal to the Illini. They entered the 3rd period down 4-1.

The Cyclones were unable to mount any momentum in the third period, due to an elbowing call that put Jackson Graalum in the box.  

Upon leaving the penalty box, the Cyclones were called for too many men on the ice, giving them a second penalty in a row to kill off.

Cyclone Hockey returns to the ice on Saturday for a rematch with the Illini. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.