Matt Cohn notched his first career hat trick Friday night as the Cyclones dominated the D-II Iowa Hawkeyes 10-1 at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

The senior’s last home game against the in-state rival Hawkeyes (5-12-0) proved to be quite fruitful. Scoring all his goals in the final frame, Cohn and the rest of the Cyclones (12-14-0) cruised to an easy nine-goal victory after only a 2-1 advantage through two periods.

“We came out and played really well in the third. Coach [Al Murdoch] gave us a good pep talk,” said Cohn. “It was just a team effort. Everybody played great.”

Fans crammed into every nook and cranny in the arena. The atmosphere stayed electric more than nine minutes in, when Brian Rooney scored a rebound goal. Three minutes later, Shawn Crawford showed off some nice puck-handling to get open in the slot and fire it home.  

Iowa State controlled the puck for most of the game — Iowa was limited to only 15 shots — however after two periods, Iowa State held a slim, and somewhat surprising, 2-1 lead.

“You know, it’s a big crowd, guys were gripping the stick a little too tight,” Cohn said. “But we knew it would only take one to break this game open. Everyone came out real hard in the third.”

And did they ever. Just more than two minutes into the final period, Cohn got his night started when he received a centering pass from a streaking Cort Bulloch, and the onslaught was on. Iowa State scored a goal a minute for around five minutes to please the sellout crowd.

“I really thank the community for coming out and supporting Cyclone hockey,” Cohn said. “It means everything to us. I wish we could play them every night. It’s a lot of fun.”