Cyclone Hockey coach Jason Fairman waited all week until the team bus rolled into Bensenville, Ill., to tell goaltender Derek Moser he would be getting the start between the pipes against Robert Morris last weekend.

All Moser did in response to getting the nod was allow three goals all weekend en route to a team sweep and individually being named the Cyclone Hockey Player of the Week.

Despite Moser’s impressive weekend performance, the controversy of who should start between Moser and consistent starter Matt Goedeke in this weekend’s road matchup with Lindenwood is still in the air. 

In late October, Goedeke held the potent Lions’ offense to just two goals on the weekend in one of his best performances of his Cyclone Hockey career. That performance cemented Goedeke’s position at the top of the depth chart.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s not frustrating,” Moser said of sitting behind Goedeke. “Obviously you want to help your team as much as you can, but with Goedeke playing so well, you can’t be frustrated about that.”

Moser got a couple of opportunities in games this season but was largely unnoticed until his performance in relief of Goedeke against Central Oklahoma at the end of January.

Then Moser got the nod to start and came up big in a road sweep of Robert Morris. Now the team will wait to hear who the starter will be until just a few hours before the puck drops in St. Charles, Mo. But it isn’t bothersome to the team.

“I don’t think it’s too distracting,” said forward Jon Severson. “Whoever is in net, you know they will give it their best.”

Whoever does end up getting the start this weekend will have to deal with a Lindenwood team that put up 14 goals last weekend against Illinois State.

“They’re an offensively minded team,” Severson said.

Despite the heavy emphasis on offense for the Lions, the Cyclones, led by Goedeke and a strong defense, shut out the Lions in the second game of the team’s first series this season, completing the mid-season sweep.

It’s been more than three months since the last time these two teams met, but it likely won’t be nearly as long before the next meeting.

After the two games in St. Charles, the Cyclones will return home to host the Central States Hockey League Tournament next weekend, in which there is a strong likelihood Cyclone Hockey could once again match up with Lindenwood.

The team has been in the mode that every game this month has been “playoff hockey” and will use the same mantra this weekend. The results will provide some clarity for seeding in the CSHL tournament and the CSHL regular-season champion.

Being so close to the end of the season means the Cyclones are laying it all on the line this weekend.

“We’re holding nothing back,” Severson said.