With Cyclone Hockey coming off of a series loss at Minot State, it is preparing for another road trip against a ranked opponent and border rival, Illinois.

Most of Cyclone Hockey’s road games have been against top ranked teams this season, such as No. 1 Central Oklahoma, No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 12 Minot State.

The Cyclones have had trouble facing top teams on the road, with their record being 1-3-2 with the two losses coming in overtime. Their biggest problem, perhaps, is their inability to score.

It’s answer is one head coach Jason Fairman is still looking for.

“It is hard to play on the road,” Fairman said. “I don’t know if we are a different team, but we need to find a way to win.”

Cyclone Hockey goalie Matt Cooper also finds it tough to play away from Ames.

“It’s hard to go into anywhere and play the same game you play in front of your home fans,” Cooper said. “It’s a battle wherever we go and we know that.”

Forward Trevor Lloyd shared a similar opinion.

“You are fighting a lot of adversity, bus lag and referees,” Lloyd said. “Plus the overall tiredness from traveling.”

The team is also frustrated with its results on the road.

“Sometimes we do get a little caught up in the game and I think that’s something we need to work on,” Lloyd said. “We need to keep our head straight and focusing on the game and playing all 60 minutes.”

To combat the road woes, Fairman is considering line changes to shake things up.

“I just did it the last two weekends,” Fairman said. “If it pays off we keep it, so yeah I am open to it.”

Illinois has been dominant on its home ice this season with a record of 6-2, but haven’t really out scored its opponents by much. The Illini have scored 22 goals at home, while opponents have scored a total of 19 goals.

But on the bright side of playing on the road, Cyclone Hockey still outshoots most of its opponents.

“I think we have outshot every team we have played,” Fairman said. “We have been in every game we have played in. I think we have played well, we just have to find a way to win.”

Lloyd said taking more shots will simply create more opportunities for the Cyclones to score.

“We have out-shot everybody we played this weekend,” Lloyd said. “We just have to working on burrowing the puck and I think it’s going to come for us.”

The Cyclones play the Fighting Illini at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 14 & 15 in Champaign, Ill.