In a fast-paced game like hockey, every team is constantly searching for that edge on any given play.

Most of the time, this comes in the form of special teams and skater advantages. The Cyclones struggled to produce special team’s goals in their road trip against Ohio and gave up too many chances when down a man on the ice.

The Cyclones dropped both games of the series against the Ohio Bobcats, losing a tight 5-3 game and suffering a complete collapse in the second game with a 6-0 loss.

The Cyclones had their offense going in the first matchup but could never get any momentum going because of penalties.

“I think we’re one of the best teams in the country at 5-on-5,” said Cyclone coach Jason Fairman. “We told the team that we had to stay out of the box, and we wanted to play the game 5-on-5, but that just didn’t happen.”

The Cyclones racked up the penalties in both games, with an unacceptable 26 minutes in the first game. These penalties always seemed to come at the worst possible moment, and the Bobcats capitalized.

Ohio’s power play unit scored three times in the series and always seemed to deflate any Cyclone momentum. The Cyclone’s power play was no joke during the series, however.

The Cyclones also managed to score three times on the power play, but they all came in the third period of the first game and proved to be too little, too late.

“We have a number of different power plays looks to work with, but we never seemed to be able to get one going consistently,” said senior defenseman Cory Sellers.

The Cyclones faced a whole new issue on special teams in their second game, giving up two short-handed goals to the Bobcats. Short-handed goals are big momentum killers for a team trying to mount a comeback.

While the penalties came in bunches for the Cyclones, the Bobcats were also hit with quite a few penalties. Both games were tightly officiated and it seemed to affect both sides.

“From talking with Ohio’s coach, I think both teams were frustrated by the officiating, but that’s going to happen,” Fairman said. “It’s nothing new, and you’re going to have to deal with it.”

Despite the score, the Cyclone goalies played well, especially when they were playing even. Five of the eight total goals scored by Ohio took place during either power plays or when the Bobcats were shorthanded, both of which can be difficult for a goalie to adjust to.

The Cyclones will work on cutting down the penalties before their quick turnaround against Dakota College at Bottineau on Friday and Saturday at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena. Those will be their last two games of 2015 before the season starts back up in January.