When No. 5 Cyclone Hockey faced off against No. 2 Ohio during the weekend, it knew it’d be in for a battle, and it would take an extra amount of effort to pull off a win or two.

While the effort was present in the second game, the Cyclones weren’t able to pull off an upset, dropping both contests.

The weekend didn’t start well, as the Cyclones lost the first game, 5-4, and allowed the most goals they’ve allowed all season. The Cyclones pride themselves on being a stout defensive team, but the effort wasn’t there Friday night at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

“I didn’t think we played well,” Fairman said. “I’m on the bench thinking I’m not getting effort from a number of guys. I’m looking down the bench here thinking, ‘I’m not getting effort from him, I’m not getting effort from him.’

“It didn’t matter who I put out there.”

The Cyclones failed to convert on a few scoring opportunities where they had odd-man rushes, which could have turned the tide of the game.

“We had a couple golden opportunities,” Fairman said. “But it seemed like the mistakes that we made, [Ohio] seemed to capitalize on. I’m not taking anything away from them; they outplayed us.”

Things were different in the second game of the series Saturday night. More fire burned in the Cyclones and it showed on the score sheet.

Cyclone Hockey came out and gave a stellar defensive performance. Goedeke stopped all 34 shots he faced en route to a shutout. The Cyclones experienced one problem — they couldn’t score.

The game went to a shootout, in which the Bobcats scored the lone goal to give them the 1-0 victory. Although it wasn’t the result he wanted, Fairman saw the effort his team gave. 

“That’s the Cyclone Hockey team I know and that’s the Cyclone Hockey team we need to be,” Fairman said. “I was pleased with the effort. I thought we outplayed them. I thought we outplayed the No. 1 team in the nation tonight.”

The Bobcats are full of veterans. They only had to replace a few guys, while the Cyclones had to replace almost half the roster.

The Cyclones have an opportunity to rise to that elite level as the young talent improves, especially if they continue to give performances like the one they produced Saturday.

“I thought tonight was the best game we’ve played all year,” Goedeke said. “When we go play at Ohio in December, I think they’re in for a rude awakening because we have young team, so we are only going to get better.”

One of the biggest differences Goedeke noted between the first game and the second was how well he could see the puck. He said he was feeling a lot more comfortable in net and reading the plays better.

The defense helped the Cyclone goaltender by grinding and challenging the Bobcats to make sure Goedeke only had to see one shot before his team cleared out the puck.

“Giving up five goals yesterday, we really wanted to buckle down on it, so we just focused on the little things,” said forward Tony Uglem. “Getting in front of the puck and keeping them to the outside worked pretty well for us today, and obviously we had some great goaltending.”

 Goedeke had high praise for the effort in that area.

“We’re one of the best defensive teams I’ve played on,” Goedeke said. “I really appreciate the effort they always give me, and it makes my job so much easier. I don’t have to worry about second or third chances or backdoor. I just have to stop the first shot, and they do the rest for me.”

Uglem, a freshman, is the Cyclones’ leading scorer with nine goals through eight games. As the game winded down, Fairman made sure he had Uglem play a significant amount of time with the rest of the freshman line.

“That freshman line is playing very well, and I was trying to get them the opportunity without tiring them out too much,” Fairman said. “We’ve got a couple injuries, so our lines are a little messed up right now. I’ve got guys that aren’t [used to] playing together.”

In the end, the Cyclones fell short again, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. They just failed to find the back of the net. Uglem said the team wasn’t getting the puck to the front of the goalie crease enough and tried to create chances that weren’t there. 

Fairman added that the Cyclones will keep working hard in practice this upcoming week.

“We’ll get better Monday, we’ll get better on Tuesday,” Fairman said. “I thought we were pretty good tonight. I told them, I was pleased with the way we played. I thought we outplayed [Ohio on Saturday night].”