A flurry of second period goals led Cyclone Hockey to a season-opening win against Missouri on Friday.

After a scoreless first period, Iowa State scored four in a five-minute span en route to a 6-2 win.

Iowa State won the face-off to start the second period, which started out much like the first, with both goalkeepers stopping numerous attempts on goal.

Then the Cyclone offense started to come alive.

At the 13-minute mark, senior forward Mike Murtaugh found fellow senior Bill Adolph for the game’s first goal, putting the Cyclones up 1-0. Almost two minutes later, sophomore forward Chris Mackay scored on an assist from Hudson, extending the lead to 2-0.

Mike Lebler scored at the 9-minute 30-second mark to give the Cyclones a 3-0 lead, running away with the game in the second period. One minute later, Jason Pacheco put in the Cyclones’ fourth goal, forcing Missouri coach John Lamond to call a timeout and make a switch at goalie.

“They got some momentum going and got comfortable in their shifts,” ISU coach Al Murdoch said. “They were able to get in a flow and were pretty deep; we had 21 different players play tonight.” 

Murdoch also mentioned that he wanted his team to use its speed and quickness, which he felt they did a good job of.

“I thought we were the quicker team tonight. Nothing against Missouri, they have some good players, but I felt like we had the quicker step and were a little more seasoned,” Murdoch said.

Missouri finally answered in the final seconds of the second period, making the score 4-1 in favor of the Cyclones heading into the final period.

With Iowa State comfortably ahead, Murdoch decided to start sophomore Jim Stenson at goal in the third period, replacing starting goaltender Eric Hudson.

Sophomore forward Mitch Paulsen put in the Cyclones fifth goal, further cushioning their lead to 5-1 at the 14:00 mark in the third period. Missouri answered that goal when junior forward Nick Edwards scored off a rebound, bringing the score to 5-2. Adolph found Murtaugh again in the final minute to cap a convincing 6-2 victory over the Tigers.

Adolph and Murtaugh hooking up twice has something to say about the seniors’ chemistry on the ice.

“We’re best friends you know? It’s almost like we’re brothers. We’ve lived together for three years. I just always know where he’s going to be on the ice, I don’t know how else to explain it,” Adolph said.

Murtaugh agrees that past experience of playing with Adolph helps.

“Most of us have played together before, like me and Adolph have. We’ve also got some good freshmen coming in. We got some good core players,” Murtaugh said.

Despite the apparently dominating 6-2 performance, Adolph is careful not to read into it too much.

“It’s the first game, so we can’t judge too much,” Adolph said.  “But we had some new guys step in and play well; they know what it’s about.”