Cyclone Hockey will travel to Bensenville, Ill., this weekend for the first time in two months and face off against Robert Morris for the last regular season matchup for both teams. 

But it won’t be the last time the Cyclones hit the road for a big weekend of hockey in Bensenville.

In less than a month, Cyclone Hockey will be departing from Ames for one of the biggest weekend’s of the season: the American Collegiate Hockey Association national tournament, which will be held in Bensenville.

“It’s nice we’re going up a couple of weekends before the national tournament,” said forward Jon Severson. “It’s a normal sheet of ice, but it’s a different atmosphere in Bensenville so it’ll help us.”

This entire season, Cyclone Hockey has had the ACHA tournament in the back of its mind, but the team has also preached about staying focused on the opponent at hand. 

So while this series may be a tease of the tournament to come, Cyclone Hockey is still facing a Robert Morris team that came into the Ames/ISU Ice Arena in November and gave the Cyclones two of the most tightly contested games of the season.

“They’re a good team,” said co-captain Cory Sellers. “They’re a small, faster team. I think if we show up and play the hockey we’re capable of playing then we’ll be fine.”

Facing a smaller team with speed will be a bit of a flip from last weekend’s series against Central Oklahoma. There were 17 combined penalties in Friday night’s matchup with Central Oklahoma because of the extreme physicality played between the teams.

Central Oklahoma came away with a sweep, and while Cyclone Hockey is ready to move on, the team keeps it tucked away to use as a little extra motivation.

“I think we use it as motivation in some ways.” Severson said. “We learn from our mistakes.”

This series will be the first time the Cyclones have hit the road since Dec. 4 and 5 against Ohio, because of Winter Break and six straight series at home.

While the home atmosphere was felt last weekend in front of two of the largest crowds of the season, many on the team believe it will be nice to actually get back on the road again.

“It will be a good change of scenery for us,” said Cyclone Hockey coach Jason Fairman.

Sellers said the team is excited and it will be a nice opportunity for the team to bond and get away from school for a weekend. But there is still a business that the Cyclones need to take care of.

“I personally think they’re a team we should beat every time,” Sellers said. “We need to show up. If we don’t show up, they’ll put some away on us and they’ll win the game.”