The Cincinnati Cyclones picked up their first win of the 2025-26 season on Friday night. Despite being outshot 36-to-14, they outlasted the Fort Wayne Komets 3-1 for Riley Weselowski’s first win as a head coach.
Marko Sikic, Justin Vaive, and Andrew Noel were the goal scorers for Cincinnati, while goaltender Ken Appleby earned his first victory of the season, stopping 35 of 36 shots.
The lone Fort Wayne goal came from Alex Aleardi, and Komets netminder Nathaniel Day made 11 saves on 14 shots.
After the game, Weselowski said he was pleased with how his team responded from the season opener and took a noticeable step forward in many areas.
Related: Cincinnati Cyclones Fall 5-3 to Wheeling Nailers on Opening Night
“What I liked, in the sense of areas that we wanted to be better from game one, I thought we were better in game two. It was far from a perfect game, but I think usually the first ten games of a season are a lot of just learning and getting on the same page. I thought the guys battled, they competed, and they played hard for each other.”
First Period
In his first game of the season, Sikic gave the Cyclones a 1-0 lead just over halfway into the first period. Sikic drove in towards the net and fired it past Day’s short side, after a chip in from Braeden Kressler, who was credited with the assist.
A late period power play came for the Cyclones, but they were unable to cash in on the Alex Aleardi tripping penalty.
Shots on goal were tied at 8-8 through 20 minutes.
Second Period
Vaive was the lone goal scorer in the second period, extending the Cyclones’ lead to 2-0 on the power play late in the period. His third of the season came on a beautiful rush in, where he went backhand-to-forehand on Day.
Appleby had an outstanding middle frame, stopping 12 of 12 shots, while his team shot a mere three shots on goal in the period.
Weselowski praised the veteran goaltender’s performance post-game.
“I don’t even know if I’d call it a bounce-back performance because he’s just good. He’s steady, he’s calm. Ken is a very rare goalie. He’s one of the best in the league year over year, and he’s a calming presence. We are so fortunate to have him back there with our group right now. What we talked about after game one was that we left too many bodies unattended around the net. If we do a good job there and Ken can see pucks, he’s going to make saves. A lot that he can’t see, because of his size, is going to hit him. We just have to make sure we do a good job around our net, and I thought we did a much better job of that tonight.”
Third Period
Aleardi cut the Komets’ deficit to 2-1 five minutes into the third on a shot from the slot.
Noel answered quickly, extending Cincinnati’s lead to 3-1 on a wrist shot that slipped through Day’s five-hole. The goal marked the first professional tally for the former Ferris State defenseman.
Weselowski praised Noel’s all-around play and the performance of the defensive group as a whole.
“You know what, I loved his game, and it has nothing to do with his offense or his goal, even though that was really nice, and it was a big goal for us. The way he competed defensively was excellent. He was always on the right side of plays. Him and Rhett Parsons, even McCleary, Bohlinger, and these guys, you just see the way they’re defending. Johnson as well.
With our D-core, understanding what we have for forwards, we’ve got a lot of skilled forwards who can skate and make plays. As a D-core, their job is to get those guys the puck and defend hard. I think Andy did an incredible job of that tonight.”
Appleby continued to stand tall down the stretch, helping Cincinnati hold off a late Fort Wayne push to secure the 3-1 win.
Cincinnati (1-1-0) continues its road trip Saturday night against the Indy Fuel. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT.
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