1/30 - Cyclones Buck Bronchos for 5-4 Victory

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Cyclones Buck Bronchos for 5-4 Victory
Blanek scores game-winner with 14.1 left on Broncho turnover
Jan. 30, 2015 – Ames, Iowa – With a disappointing sweep on the road to third-ranked Ohio two weekends ago still
in the review mirror, despite a sweep of intrastate rival Iowa last weekend, Iowa State entered Friday night’s home
game against second-ranked Central Oklahoma in real need of a victory against a top-ranked opponent to prove the
team truly is a national title contender, and the Cyclones overcame a potential third-period collapse with a little luck
late to edge the Bronchos 5-4 in dramatic fashion.
Iowa State jumped out to the early lead at the 2:27 mark when a centering pass off the end boards by Scott
Antonsen (Calgary, Alberta – Olds Grizzlys/AJHL) tipped off the stick of Preston Blanek (Edina, Minn. –
Steele County Blades/MnJHL) and up to the hash marks near Zack Johnson (Rochester, Minn. – Wisconsin
Whalers/NA3HL), who shot the puck through traffic and past Central Oklahoma goaltender Tory Caldwell for the
1-0 lead. The Bronchos countered with their own power play goal, however, at 7:54 of the first when Michael
Rivera took an attempted clear off the half boards, skated to the face-off circle, and sniped a shot top shelf, blocker
side, on Iowa State goaltender Scott Ismond (Calgary, Alberta – Squamish Wolfpack/PIJHL) to tie the game
back up 1-1. Freshman defenseman Jake Uglem (Moorhead, Minn. – Winkler Flyers/MJHL) scored a soft goal
along the ice from the high slot at 13:32 off a rebound generated by an Andrew Carlson (Livonia, Mich. –
Rochester Ice Hawks/MnJHL) shot from the half board to put the Cyclones back ahead and it appeared Iowa State
might hold a one-goal lead heading into the first intermission, but Rivera struck again on the power play with 14.5
seconds left with a top-shelf laser beam from the face-off circle to Ismond’s left to tie it 2-2 after the first period.
The second period featured a fair amount of back-and-forth hockey and Central Oklahoma even started to control
play the final few minutes, but Iowa State was the only team score in the second frame when Mike Dopko (Makwa,
Saskatchewan – Nanaimo Clippers/BCHL) fed Jake Bruhn (Chippewa Falls, Wisc. – Hudson
Crusaders/MnJHL) with a breakout pass and the junior forward sped down the wing and lobbed a shot from the
half boards that deflected off of Caldwell and in only a split second before Blanek and a Broncho defenseman
crashed into the net as the Cyclone power forward drove the far post.
With Bruhn’s goal at the 6:04 mark of the second, which gave the Cyclones a 3-2 lead after two periods, Iowa State
appeared to be in the driver’s seat at 4:05 of the third when Seth Serhienko (Bottineau, N.D. – Dakota-Bottineau
Lumberjacks/NJCAA) helped keep a puck in at the point and scored with a low shot from the top off the face-off
circles for the 4-2 advantage, but the Bronchos came pounding back with goals in quick succession. Rivera picked
up the hat-trick at 10:59 of the third period when he redirected a Tyler Minx point shot and the Bronchos evened the
score 4-4 at 12:27 when Gaven Hohl took an Iowa State turnover at the offensive blue line, skated in along the left
wing, and fed trailer Brandon Formasa off the half boards for a goal scored top shelf from the high slot.
Cyclone Hockey Head Coach and General Manager Jason Fairman took the team’s lone timeout of the game after
Formasa’s goal to settle the Cyclones, which worked to some degree. Iowa State received a prime opportunity to
take the lead late with a boarding call against Central Oklahoma defenseman Trevor LeBlanc with 4:13 remaining,
but the Cyclones were unable to score with the man advantage and it appeared as if the game would head to
overtime, but an attempted pass by Minx from the corner all the way to the neutral zone was picked off by Blanek at
the blue line and the power forward fired a shot past the glove of Caldwell with 14.1 seconds left in regulation for
the 5-4 lead.
Central Oklahoma took its lone allocated timeout after Blanek’s goal and called Caldwell to the bench for the extra
attacker, but the Cyclones were able to survive a small Broncho offensive stampede late to come away with one of
the biggest wins at home in 2014-15.
Ismond saved 27 of 31 shots in the winning effort while Caldwell stopped 40 of the 45 shots Iowa State put on net.
Following the game, Fairman was nearly as a loss for words to describe his emotions following the roller-coaster
game.
“I’m just somewhat speechless and just relieved,” said Fairman. “How quickly that game turned, I’m still recovering
from that.”
Although relieved that the team picked up the win against the number two team in the nation, Fairman was also
vexed at how the team nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
“We got the win against a great team, but I’m disappointed we’ve done this three times now where we’ve had
momentum and all of that and the other team scores and we just collapse, which causes me great concern,” said
Fairman. “We’re going to have pressured-packed games from here on out and if we want to win a national
championship or a league title, we just can’t do this.”
Beyond the obvious positive of picking up the win, which puts Iowa State 18-11-2-3 for the season, another positive
for the Cyclone team that has had some trouble lighting the lamp against top-ranked opponent was that the Cardinal
and Gold scored five times against a potential championship contending team, which Fairman thinks could help the
team moving forward even if the win wasn’t pretty.
“I certainly hope it helps our confidence,” said Fairman. “One of the things we talked about, one of the key points in
our game plan, was shooting the puck and driving hard to the net and I think we did that and it paid dividends for us,
and I think that’ll be a big part of our success moving forward.”
The Cyclones square off against the Bronchos against Saturday night at the Ames/ISU Ice at around 8:00, following
an Iowa State women’s hockey game against the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Fans who cannot attend the game
in person can watch the game online live on America One. To register and/or to watch, go to the Cyclone Hockey
website at www.cyclonehockey.com and click on any America One logo on the homepage.
The organization is still busy selling flex packs and mini packs for use the rest of the season. Cyclone Hockey also
offers steep discounts on group rates for groups of fans of 10 or more fans. Group rates must be secured two weeks
prior to the desired game a group intends to attend. Fans can learn more about Cyclone Hockey’s dramatically
slashed ticket prices and group rates at the organization’s website at www.cyclonehockey.com and can purchase
tickets by calling 515.294.0410 or at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena on game nights. Cyclone Hockey can also be followed
on Facebook at /CycloneHockey, on Twitter at @Cyclone Hockey, and on Instagram at @CycloneHockey. Cyclone
Hockey…Welcome to the New Age!
NOTES: Having missed the first semester, Preston Blanek’s two-point game was his first multi-point game of the
season. Video review revealed that Andrew Carlson picked up the second assist on Jake Uglem’s goal by firing a
shot toward the net, which rebound barely brushed off the blade of Alex Grupe (Arlington Heights, Ill. – Osoyoos
Coyotes/KIJHL) to Uglem. The assist was Carlson’s first point as a Cyclone after transferring to Iowa State from
Hamline University for the second semester. Scott Antonsen continues to have a hot hand and has 14 points (9-5-14)
in his last 17 games. With the assist, Antonsen is now sixth in team scoring with 17 points (10-7-17) in 29 games.
Jake Bruhn’s second-period goal was his 20th point of the season (6-14-20) and he now stands fifth in team scoring.
Video review also indicated that Trevor Lloyd (Commerce, Mich. – Rochester Ice Hawks/MnJHL) did not assist
on Bruhn’s goal but instead, Jake Uglem made a pass from behind the net to Mike Dopko, who made the breakout
pass up to Bruhn. Uglem’s two-point performance gives him 5 points (3-2-5) in his last 7 games. Uglem is now third
in Cyclone defenseman scoring with 11 points (5-6-11). Zack Johnson suffered an upper body injury with about
3:30 left in the third period when he was sent into the boards and is extremely doubtful for Saturday night and could
be lost for the season.
GAME SUMMARY
GOALS BY PERIOD
IOWA STATE
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
1
2
2
2
1
0
3
2
2
FINAL
5
4
First Period – Scoring: ISU, Johnson (Blanek, Antonsen), 2:27 (pp); UCO, Rivera (unassisted), 7:54; ISU, Uglem
(Grupe, Carlson), 13:32; UCO, Rivera (Wyatt, Yee), 19:45. Penalties: UCO, Wyatt (tripping), 1:37; ISU, Johnson
(cross-checking), 6:40; UCO, Rivera (high-sticking), 10:36; ISU, Rey (holding), 18:29.
Second Period – Scoring: ISU, Bruhn (Dopko, Uglem), 6:04. Penalties: UCO, Formosa (slashing), 11:27; UCO,
Meyer (high-sticking), 17:25; ISU, Blanek (slashing), 18:30.
Third Period – Scoring: ISU, Serhienko (DeLuca), 4:05; UCO, Rivera (Minx, Wyatt), 10:59; UCO, Formosa (Hohl),
12:27; ISU, Blanek (unassisted), 19:45. Penalties: UCO, Rice (hooking), 6:43; UCO, LeBlanc (boarding), 15:47.
SHOTS BY PERIOD
IOWA STATE
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
1
13
13
2
14
11
3
18
7
TOTAL
45
31
GOALTENDERS (SV/SH)
ISU, Ismond (60:00)
UCO, Caldwell (59:45)
UCO, Empty Net (0:15)
1
11/13
11/13
-/-
2
11/11
13/14
-/-
3
5/7
16/18
0/0
TOTAL
27/31
40/45
0/0
OWER PLAY: ISU 1-6; UCO 2-3
PENALTIES: ISU 3-6; UCO 6-12
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