Cyclone Hockey honors seniors with sweep

The Cyclones victorious. The home team wrested a win from the Illiana Blackbirds this weekend. After a shaky first period, the Cyclones won 2-0 in the first of a series of exhibition games. 

Luke Manderfeld

Cyclone Hockey celebrated its senior night and the end of its regular season with a 13-0 win, as well as a sweep against the Midland Warriors on Feb. 28 at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

The Cyclones didn’t let up on the newly-entered Division I Warriors in the second and third periods, scoring 12 of their 13 goals in that time.

It was only fitting that on senior night, a senior scored the first goal. Alec Wilhelmi fired a shot on the right pad of Midland goaltender Jarin Aden that trickled under and put the Cyclones up 1-0.

The Cyclones didn’t allow a shot on goal until just over 15 minutes into the first period and out-shot the Warriors 30-4.

The Cyclones continued their dominance following the honoring of their seniors in the previous intermission and it was the seniors who took the lead. This time, a plethora of shots found the back of the net.

Nate Percy extended the Cyclones’ lead to two after tucking a puck right under Aden’s glove. Cory Sellers added on to the Percy goal exactly a minute later by finding the net above the goaltender’s right shoulder unassisted.

The Cyclones didn’t show any signs of slowing down as the abundance of attacks on net kept paying dividends. Alex Grupe, Preston Blanek, Chase Rey and J.P. Kascsak all joined in on the scoring as the Cyclones grabbed a 7-0 lead heading into the second intermission. 

Jake Bruhn shined in the third period, tallying all three of his goals on his way to the hat trick, which helped his team on its path to a lopsided victory. 

Cyclone Hockey looks next toward the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament, in which it plays Oklahoma at 12 p.m. March 7 at John Carroll University.