In the game of hockey, if a team dominates possession of the puck, it’s going to be difficult for the opponent to score. That’s just basic logic.  

This is the philosophy Cyclone Hockey implements, and it’s the philosophy it executed to near perfection against the Division II Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars in a double-header sweep Friday and Saturday night.

The Cyclones allowed just one goal the entire weekend. That goal came on a 5-on-3 power play for the Cougars with one minute remaining in the second game of the series.

Cyclone Hockey coach Jason Fairman said the team came out flat the second game after scoring nine goals in the first.

“I don’t know if guys got as up for this game as they might have for the first one,” Fairman said. “You know, beating a team 9-0, they sort of have an expectation of what to expect. So we were a little flat at the beginning of the period.

“It’s not that they weren’t giving effort, but I think the extra drive wasn’t there. Guys were trying to do some things on their own. So I hope we didn’t pick up any bad habits.”

Even though the Cyclones came out absent a sharp edge, they still scored 11 goals in the second game and controlled the puck well.

But the first game was the epitome of excellent puck possession.

“One of our philosophies is being a puck possession team, and it was good to see early in the year,” Fairman said. “But I was very encouraged by the number of things I saw — the movement, the puck possession, the quick movement.”

It’s impossible for a team to control the puck the entire game, so when the other team does gain possession, it’s up to the defense to get the puck back and allow the forwards to control it.

“[Controlling the puck] starts with defense,” said co-captain Cory Sellers. “Our defense has to be able to make the first pass to get it to our forwards. But our forwards did a great job of getting it down low. They worked it down the cycle and the other team couldn’t get it from them.

“As long as the forwards have it and they’re keeping it down low, we are going to have the puck.”

If the offense has the puck for the majority of the game, it is bound to score. And the scoring at this point in the season is coming from everywhere.

Fourteen different players scored 20 collective goals for the Cyclones last weekend, including six freshmen who scored eight total goals.

Freshman Anthony Uglem found the back of the net twice in each game.

“[The freshmen] will have to contribute a little bit,” Uglem said. “We got some great veteran leadership that’ll help the young guys along the way. So I think it’ll be good, and I know the freshmen are excited to get going and contribute.”

Sellers is one of the veterans helping the young guys.

“[Freshman scoring] is a good sign,” Sellers said. “That’s what we lacked last year, we had good players but we didn’t have goal scorers. [The freshmen have] goal scorers, so hopefully that’s a sign of good things to come.”

The goals the freshmen scored were well executed goals too.

“Any time [a freshman] can score, that’s encouraging,” Fairman said. “They got some nice goals, those were actually some great shots. We got a couple cheapies, but I think most of our goals were pretty nice goals as far as execution.”