Cyclone Hockey went head to head with adversity over the weekend and came out on top.

Between playing in an unfamiliar arena that is one of the most unique in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, being constantly heckled in front of a sold-out crowd and having to come back from a shootout loss with another shootout — Cyclone Hockey left Champaign, Ill., with three of four possible points this weekend.

“There are a lot of learning experiences and lessons that we can take from this weekend,” said Cyclone Hockey coach Jason Fairman.

One of those lessons was one the Cyclones haven’t had to deal with playing at home for the previous six series — playing in a hostile environment on the road.

At the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, the only seating is directly across from the player benches. But on the road at the University of Illinois Ice Arena, the seating surrounds the benches. including a student section directly behind the Cyclone bench that was screaming at the Cyclones all weekend, trying to get in their heads.

“I told the guys on Friday not to get caught up in it and react to what they say, but it was a great environment,” Fairman said.

The environment was filled with capacity crowds on both nights, and the Cyclones had to deal with Illinois’ massive home ice sheet. But the Cyclones held their own, and it appeared that Illinois was the team that cracked.

On Friday night, Illinois forward James Mcging scored and proceeded to put a skate divot in goaltender Matt Goedeke’s crease, causing a delay for the divot to be fixed and an ejection for Mcging.

Cyclone Hockey was down 1-0 in the third period when Mcging struck again. He was called for slashing, a five minute major penalty, for two-hand slashing the back of defenseman Jake Arroyo’s legs. Mcging was once again ejected from the game.

The Cyclones scored two power-play goals courtesy of Tony Uglem and Michael Addison thanks to the major penalty and took the lead 2-1.

But adversity once again struck the Cyclones when Illinois scored with under a minute and a half left in the game to tie it up off of the skate of an Illinois player. Goedeke thought the goal was kicked in, which would disallow the goal, but the referees ruled it was legal and the game went into overtime and eventually another shootout.

Despite the deflating goal and losing in a shootout out the night before, Cyclone Hockey came out victorious in the ninth round after a Chase Rey game winner sealed the deal.

Rey was stopped the night before in his one-on-one shot with Illinois Goaltender Joe Olen and was able to watch eight guys shoot before him. Rey decided to throw in a deke and it worked to perfection, sealing the victory for the Cyclones.

“It felt good,” Rey said. “It’s always great going ahead against that team, we have a bit of a rivalry with Illinois. Especially in their building with a sellout crowd was a confidence boost.”

Rey scored the game winner but gave credit for the win to Goedeke for his performance throughout the night, particularly saving 8/9 shots in the Saturday night shootout.

Goedeke had gotten the short end of the stick in the last three shootouts with the Cyclones only converting one shot in 15 shootout opportunities heading into Saturday. But Goedeke still tried to improve on what he could do by leaving his crease a little more in order to cut down the shooting angle and staying patient.

“[Shootouts] are real exciting for players involved and the fans watching,” Goeeke said. “There’s a lot of pressure on both the shooters and goalies, and it’s always a good feeling when you come out on top.”

The Cyclones were able to come out on top on Saturday night, leading to three points for the weekend despite the adversity they faced.

Assistant general manager and play-by-play announcer Kevin Wey put the weekend in perspective best.

“We out Illinois’d Illinois,” he said.