Kent State falls in first round of CSCHL tourney
By Zach Swartz, Staff Writer
February 7, 2007 | 12:26 p.m.
The No. 5 seeded Kent State Golden Flashes were not so flashy as the No. 4 seeded Iowa State Cyclones swirled around them in an 8-2 win in the first game of the CSCHL Tournament this Friday at Bird Arena.
The Cyclones had control of the puck for almost the entire game. Forward and Assistant Captain Allen Rauschel accounted for the Cyclones' first three goals of the game as he had a hat trick before the end of the second period, and even Iowa State's goalie, Trent Baker, had an empty-net score before the game was done.
"The team is really playing well," said Iowa State Coach Al Murdoch. "The team has a lot of depth [and] the coaching staff has been working their butts off, just doing an outstanding job … Our team … obviously everything is coming together.”
Iowa State's Peter Majkozak and Mike Murtaugh had a goal each, and Brian Spring added two more to round out the Cyclones' rout of the Golden Flashes. The team came together and played hard all game to earn their win, and they like their chances going into the rest of the tournament.
"I really have no lower expectations than to go all the way," said Rauschel. "I know everyone says that, but I really feel that our team has the ability to do it."
Kent State came into this game with the highest seed in the school's history, but coming off two losses last weekend to the same Iowa State Cyclones, their efforts were not enough to pull off a win on Friday.
"We respect that they have good speed," said Coach Murdoch on his opponent. "They move the puck well. Obviously, they've got the top scorer in the nation [Jason O'Bannon] on their squad. You've got to be aware of him. They're just doing all the right things. They're probably the best competition we could have had before we came in here. I'd rather play a good team like that than to have a soft team the weekend before the tournament."
Kent State's two goals were scored by Eddie Martin and Dave Bruder.
Iowa State will move on in the tournament and will play Ohio on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., while Kent will play Robert Morris, Michigan-Dearborn or Eastern Michigan.
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