Coach Al Murdoch took another step toward setting the collegiate hockey record for wins Friday night, as the Cyclones took game one from Arizona State.

Both sides came out with offensive pressure early, but the Cyclones missed some easy chances for goals in the early going.

With 8 minutes, 41 seconds left in the opening period the game remained deadlocked, as ASU’s defense was able to deflect the Cyclones’ constant attacks on the net. At that point the Cyclones went on a 5-3 advantage, but were unable to convert.

Freshman defenseman Nick Larsen finally put the Cyclones in the score column with 4:29 remaining in the first period, giving the Cyclones a 1-0 lead. Thirty seconds later, sophomore forward Mike Lebler put the Cyclones ahead 2-0, as he scored on a pass from junior defenseman Brent Cornelius.

“It was huge. The first goal is always the biggest goal of the game,” Larsen said. “It felt good to get the first one and it was good that the team rolled after that.”

The Sun Devils answered back, with a little over two minutes left in the first, on a goal by junior forward Matt Mackey, who cut the score to 2-1, which held up to the end of the first period.

The second period began much like the first, with the teams still locked in a 2-1 score as they approached the halfway mark. As the second period continued the score stayed the same, but the intensity picked up as the puck continuously got pinned against the boards, causing the checking intensity to increase. The Cyclones had numerous chances on breakaways.

Once again, Iowa State did its scoring late in the period as Lebler put in his second goal of the night, pushing the Cyclones out to a 3-1 lead. The goal came off a deflected shot from the stick of senior forward Bill Adolph.

“It was about time I start scoring some goals,” Lebler said. “I’ve been in a little bit of a slump.”

Lebler’s second goal, coming off a rebound, highlighted the work the team had put in during practices.

“We had touched on that at practice and it was a nice juicy rebound off Bill’s stick there, so I just took it and put it in the empty net,” Lebler said.

Sophomore goalie Erik Hudson made another big play on the Sun Devils’ next possession of the puck, using his left shin pad to make a diving save after the forward had faked out the defense. A short while later, ASU was able to put in the goal with sophomore forward Chris Vassos, who cut the lead back to 3-2, which would carry into the third period. That was the only goal Hudson allowed in the period, as he stopped six of seven shots.

At the end of the second period, Murdoch talked to his team about eliminating penalties.

“We tried to stay away from penalties,” Murdoch said. “We stayed away from getting excess penalties in the third period and our conditioning is starting to show through.”

The third period went much like the first two, with the teams failing to score in the first half of action.

Tensions finally escalated at 8:44 in the third period, when freshman defenseman Brian Rooney got into a fistfight with Mackey, sending both players to the locker room and which might result in a suspension for Rooney, in accordance with NCAA rules.

“Rooney plays pretty aggressively and we’re going to play pretty aggressive hockey as well, so things like that are going to happen sometimes,” Murdoch said.

The Cyclones were able to hold on and get the 3-2 win, allowing Murdoch to tie the all-time wins record with former Michigan State coach Ron Mason and setting the stage for the record to be broken in Saturday’s game.

“It means a lot and yes I have gotten quite a few e-mails from former players,” Murdoch said. “I’ve got 40 years of players; it’s a really tight knit group. I’m really proud of all of them, whether they played one game or four years for me, they’re all a part of history and I’m proud of every one of them.”