By Jared Bravard, @JaredBravard

It was a different night, but the same result. The Division II Cyclones (5-4) picked up another 5-0 win over the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons (1-4) on Saturday night.

After Friday’s 5-0 win, Head Coach Jason Fairman called the performance dominant. He saw similar play in Saturday’s game.

“I thought it was more the same, maybe even better,” Fairman said. “I didn’t think we could top Friday’s performance, but I think it was a solid 120 minutes. […] I couldn’t be more pleased with the way our guys played.”

The Cyclones killed two penalties in the first period, and the score sat at 0-0 going into the first intermission.

Fairman said about 25-30% of the period was taken up by killing penalties and regaining control after killing them which played a role in the Cyclones not scoring, but he saw good things from the team in the period. 

“I thought we played well in the first,” Fairman said. “We didn’t have anything to show for it but usually it takes another shift after you kill a penalty to get the momentum back.”

The work the Cyclones were putting in showed in the second period as they scored early and often. James Frantz opened the scoring at 1:31. Sam Dorfman carried the puck into the zone and left it for Frantz. His wrister from the slot made it past Falcon goalie Mack Willy’s blocker.

Just 14 seconds later, the Cyclones struck again. Ryan Hempel intercepted a pass in the slot and fired a wrister past Willy’s glove at 1:45.

“We got those two quick goals in the second and I think that took the life out of them,” Fairman said.

 The two quick goals accounted for half of the second-period scoring. Frantz tallied another goal at 12:55. Canyon Brown intercepted the puck behind the net and found Frantz just outside the crease as he slipped the puck past Willy.

Brown scored a goal of his own a few minutes later. Hempel won a faceoff in the Missouri State zone and carried the puck towards the net. Brown was waiting just outside the crease as Hempel got him the puck. Brown beat Willy glove side at 16:50.

Heading into the second intermission, the Cyclones had a 4-0 advantage.

Fairman was not surprised by the goal scoring in the period after how the team played in the first.

“I felt like it was going to come sooner or later because in time of possession and territorially, we were pretty dominant,” Fairman said. “We were moving the puck really quickly. I figured it was just a matter of time.”

Brown added another goal in the third period as he carried the puck deep into the zone,  dragged it across the crease and slipped it past Willy’s outstretched leg at 5:34. Brandon Peterson tallied the assist.

Following the trend in Friday’s game, the Cyclones held a 65-24 shot advantage. Iowa State killed all three of its penalties, and Concordia killed its one penalty — a major near the end of the second period.

The Cyclones finished the game with 16 penalty minutes as most of those came from Jon Koester’s 10-minute game misconduct. Koester and Alec Murano got tangled up behind the Cyclone net as the puck was cleared out of the zone.

Murano used his stick on Koester’s body and was assessed a major for spearing. In the events after the penalty, both Koester and Murano received game misconducts and left the ice.

When the third period started, Koester sat in the penalty box as his misconduct did not warrant a game disqualification. He returned to the ice after serving the 10 minutes. 

The Falcons’ 15 penalty minutes all came from Murano’s major and game misconduct.

Cyclone goalie Griffin Iglesias got the shutout as he saved all 24 shots he faced. Willy stopped 60 shots for a save percentage of 0.923.

Fairman said he was pleased with the performance of the team this weekend.

“A lot of guys are starting to step up. I think things are clicking with them from a systems standpoint,” Fairman said. “I hope we keep building on this because that was a lot of fun to watch. That was one of the most enjoyable weekends I’ve had in a long time. With the way the guys played, I don’t have a complaint at all.”

The Division II Cyclones take the ice again on Feb. 12-13 against Maryville University. The series will take place in Ames, Iowa.