The Cyclone Hockey team will play the University of Central Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Oklahoma City.

The Central Oklahoma Bronchos usually find themselves highly ranked among Division 1 teams in the ACHA — winning the 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 ACHA Division 1 National Championships.

Forward Domenic Kolbeins has 14 points scored for this season for the Bronchos and is currently sitting at one point per game this season, while Vitali Mikhailov also has 14 points scored this year. Nial Mills for the Bronchos has nine goals for the season, and he is currently at two goals per game this season. The Bronchos have offensive firepower, with four players having 10-plus goals for the beginning of the season.

Iowa State hockey head coach Jason Fairman said he’s looking forward to the challenge of facing the Bronchos this weekend. Fairman said it is a different year and two very different teams from one year ago.

Last weekend against the Ohio Bobcats there were a few penalties from the Cyclones. This is surprising, as the Cyclones are one of the least penalized teams in hockey.

“There is discipline in every practice and in every game,” Fairman said.

The Cyclones are currently dealing with adversity with illness and injuries, but Fairman said it’s next man up.

“Guys have to be ready when their numbers are called,” Fairman said.

The Cyclones are currently sitting at seven wins and five losses 12 games into the season. Last season the Cyclones had three losses around the same time of the year.

Freshman Max Kamper had two goals against the Ohio Bobcats. These were the only goals made in the Cyclones’ 4-2 loss in the first of two games against the Bobcats.

“At the time I was just thinking of getting the team back into the game, we were down 0-4,” Kamper said. “Someone had to get aggressive and make shots.

Kamper is looking forward to getting onto the ice with a tough and championship-built Broncho team.

Kamper said playing for coach Fairman and the Cyclones has been a blast and he has been loving every second of the season so far. Kamper chose Iowa State specifically for the hockey program and the college experience.

“I toured other colleges and teams; they were not as good as this one,” Kamper said. “It was a very easy choice to pick Iowa State.”

Kamper started playing hockey when he was seven years old and has been in love with the sport ever since.

For Kamper, his individual goals for the season are to work on his shot, his work ethic and work systems to make them become second nature. He wants to be a reliable player that coach Fairman looks for. Kamper also wants to be more physical out on the ice and to play more of a man-to-man system.

“We need to begin to score more,” Kamper said. “We have to start mixing all years together and trust each other more and we need to get more physical in games.”