The Cyclones headed into Saturday night’s matchup against Illinois hungry for a win after a disappointing loss Friday. 

But, even after a strong performance by the offense, racking up 41 shots, the Cyclones faced their third consecutive loss in a 3-0 shutout at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

In the first 20 minutes, both the Cyclones and Fighting Illini went scoreless in a back-and-forth, high-intensity period. The Cyclones dominated possession time and out-shot Illinois 18-5.

One of the shots was a rebound opportunity by freshman Anthony Song, but he failed to lift the puck over a fallen Heflin.

Heavy hits were prevalent in the second period. 

Amongst the physicality, the Cyclones couldn’t make their presence known on the scoreboard and allowed the Fighting Illini to open up the scoring.

Illinois scored five minutes into the period and again with five minutes remaining.

Even though Illinois was the team that found the back of the net, Cyclone Hockey out-shot the Fighting Illini once again, 14-6

Similar to Friday night’s ending, not a lot went in the Cyclones’ favor in the final period and frustration began to take over.

Cyclone Hockey forward Trevor Sabo took a boarding penalty and gave Illinois another chance to score on the power play. And they did to put the game out of reach.