The third period wasn’t too kind for the Cyclone Hockey team after a meltdown in the period allowed three goals and an Ohio sweep.

After leading by one going into the third period, the Cyclones defense malfunctioned and allowed Ohio to take the game 4-1 and win both of the two games in the series and remain undefeated in its home arena on the season.

Defense was the name of the game in the first period. With both teams putting six shots on net combined halfway through the first period, the No. 5 Bobcats (22-4-2) broke through and put three successive shots on net. Matt Cooper was up to the challenge and kept the game scoreless.

Once again, the No. 10 Cyclones (11-11-5) were unable to out-shoot the Bobcats in the first period, putting only five shots to the Bobcats’ seven. But none of the five shots the Cyclones put on net were quality scoring chances as the Bobcats relegated them to the perimeter of the offensive zone for most of the period. 

The Cyclones grabbed the first goal of the game in the second period after freshman Jake Uglem showed composure by toughing through a hit and made a play around a defender to bury a sharp-angle shot.

That changed the tide of the period. The Cyclones stepped up the physicality and started to take control of puck possession — something they struggled to do over the weekend. The tough-nosed play helped them sustain the 1-0 lead into the second intermission.

But they couldn’t keep it for long. 

The Bobcats knotted the game at one under a minute into the third period after Tyler Pecka took advantage of chaos in front of the net to push a puck into the net.

Not long after that, Ohio created an odd-man rush and Matt Wipper finished a backhand shot to give his team its first lead of the game. Tyler Benson extended that lead to 3-1 on the power play with a quick wrist shot. Matt Hartman made it 4-1 after a deflected shot passed Cooper, thus finishing the third-period meltdown for the Cyclones.

Cyclone Hockey will have a chance to rebound from the sweep against the Iowa Hawkeyes at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.