Ames Little Cyclones Hockey Sweeps Lincoln on its Way to State Tournament Berth.

This past weekend as the Ames Little Cyclones Hockey Program prepared to leave for a two game series in Lincoln. Neb., there was more than just two games at stake.

Two wins would put the Little Cyclones one step closer to clinching a State Tournament Birth in the Midwest High School Hockey League State Torunament held each year in Ames.

On Saturday night led by Alex Thompson and Mark Whishman (the No. 1 and No. 4 leading scorers in the Midwest League respectively) Ames battled and held on for a 3-2 win on Lincoln's senior night celebration. Thompson scored the first goal on a 5 minute power play after a Lincon player recieved a major penalty for a punch to the head on Ames Senior Zack Lister. Wishman would add another power play goal and then score what turned out to be the game winner, later in the second period. In the third period Ames held on to the lead and killed two penalties in the last three minutes. Ames Junior Goalie Orion Boylston stopped 20 of 22 shots for the Little Cyclones including making several saves in the last minute that preserved the lead and allowed the Little Cyclones to escape with a big two points on the road.

On Sunday Ames Senior Goalie Jake Petsch stopped 25 of 28 shots and Thompson scored three goals while Wishman added one as Ames held on and completed the road sweep 4-3. Strong play by Junior's Spencer Oh and Jake Dedic and Senior Defensemen Dalton Weber provided Thompson and Wishman with the supporting cast and allowed the Little Cyclones to escape with a huge 4 point weekend.

With the two wins Ames (12-15-2,  26 points) has won 4 in a row and is now one win, or one Dubuque loss from clinching their first State tournament appearance in 8 years, and the first under Head Coach Chris Schmale and the entire staff that was hired to rebuild the program 5 years ago.

The Little Cyclones travel to Dubuque this Saturday and Sunday for a two game road series against the Dubuque High School Co-Op Devils.

JV Notes: The Ames Little Cyclones JV Team finished in Linclon with a 2-2 tie on Saturday and a 3-1 loss on Sunday. The JV currently sits in 3rd place in the Eastern Division, with the top 4 teams qualifying for the JV tournament.

State Tournament Information: The Midwest High School Hockey League Varsity State Tournament is held each year in Ames, Iowa. The tournament was moved here permanatly four years ago, and is also home to the JV end of the year tournament. This year the varsity state tournament takes place Feb. 24th-26th and the JV Tournament is March 2nd-4th.