By Jared Bravard, @JaredBravard

The Division II Cyclones (6-4) scored a season-high eight goals en route to an 8-2 victory over the Maryville Saints (0-7) on Friday night. 

Maryville took the lead just 18 seconds into the game. Anthony Picciano’s one-timer from the point made it through traffic and past Cyclone goalie Patrick Egdorf. Alex Chiodini and Matt Birkemeier tallied the assists.

“We didn’t quite get the start we wanted but I thought we bounced back well,” said James Frantz.

The Cyclones responded with a goal of their own at 3:16 in the first. Blake Ramsey’s centering pass found Bryan Watters in the slot one-timer that beat Maryville goalie Max Gaudet’s glove for the top-shelf goal.

Iowa State took its first lead of the night later in the period. Ramsey found Marco Escobar on the backside for the one-timer at 13:18. The goal occurred just seconds after the Cyclones’ first power play expired.

Heading into the first intermission, the Cyclones had a 2-1 lead thanks to the amount of zone time and the 19-8 shot advantage. More of the same occurred in the second period as the Cyclones used their zone time advantage to outshoot the Saints 18-6. 

“We were getting a lot of opportunities; we just couldn’t bury it,” Ramsey said.

The lone Cyclone goal in the second period came from Ryan Hempel at 7:54. On a faceoff in the Maryville zone, Hempel pushed the puck through the legs of the opposing Saint, skated around him and took a shot from just outside the crease for the top-shelf goal.

Less than three minutes later, Maryville pulled back within one. Birkemeier got the puck to Michael Lane, who carried it across the blue line and into the slot. Lane left the puck for Chiodini to shoot. Chiodini’s wrister from the low slot made it past Egdorf’s blocker at 10:21.

Despite the zone time and shot advantage, the Cyclones held a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission. Ramsey knew the team needed to have a strong start to the third period. 

“During the intermission, we said this next goal has to be ours, otherwise it’s a completely different game,” Ramsey said.

The Cyclones did not just get the next goal; they got the next five. Jon Koester started the third period scoring with a power-play goal at 5:37. Koester’s drive from the point made it past Gaudet’s glove for the top-shelf goal. Peter Meyer tallied the assist. 

Watters tallied his second goal of the night to give the Cyclones a 5-2 lead at 6:57 in the period. Escobar carried the puck into the zone and found Watters on the inside edge of the opposite faceoff circle. Watters fired a low one-timer that beat the outstretched leg of Gaudet on the near post. 

Ramsey scored the second power-play goal on the night to make the score to 6-2. He carried the puck into the neutral zone and then into the slot for a wrister that beat Gaudet’s blocker at 10:30.

Canyon Brown scored the seventh goal for the Cyclones at 13:49 in the third period. The Cyclones cleared the zone, and Brown poked the puck away from a Maryville defenseman in the neutral zone. He carried it to the low slot for a shot that found its way over Gaudet’s glove to increase the Cyclones lead to five.

Hempel tallied his second goal on the night to complete the Cyclone scoring. Gaudet saved Escobar’s initial attempt, but Hempel was there to tap in the rebound at 18:46.

Much like the first two periods, the Cyclones used their zone time advantage to outshoot the Saints 18-5 in the final frame.

Frantz hopes Saturday’s game looks like the third period of Friday’s game.

“We need to come out and play all three periods the same way we played the third period in tonight’s game,” Frantz said. 

The Cyclones finished the night two for four on the power play. Maryville did not convert on any of its three power plays. Iowa State’s final shot advantage in the game was 55-18.

Egdorf made 16 saves for a percentage of 0.889 while Gaudet’s percentage was 0.855 as he recorded 47 saves.

The puck drop for game two is at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena. A limited number of tickets are available at the door. The game will be streamed through Stretch (link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/isuhockey/).

“I’m looking forward to [Saturday],” Ramsey said. “Hopefully we can tighten it up a bit more and get off to a better start.”