Opening the season with a win is something every team, regardless of sport, would love to accomplish.

That’s exactly what the ISU Men’s Ice Hockey Club achieved Friday night at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

The club had a rousing 13-0 shutout win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The club followed its impressive performance from the night before with an 18-2 drubbing to complete the sweep of the Huskers.

The club now has a 2-0 record to begin the season.

Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the score was the way in which the goals were attained.

From the moment the puck was dropped Friday until the game ending horn sounded Saturday, it was all in the hands of the club.

In both games, even after jumping out to huge leads, the intensity level seemed just as high in the third period, as it did in the first period.

There were no dull moments to be forgotten.

That intensity was set by sophomore forward Allen Raushel and freshman forward Mike Murtaugh.

Raushel scored the first goal to jump-start the hockey club on Friday night.

The play came after just three minutes and 35 seconds of play.

“It’s a great way to get the guys going,” Raushel said.

“A lot of these rookies are coming up, looking for someone to step up and you see a goal or big hit like the one by Mike [Murtaugh] and it gets everybody fired up.”

Raushel had another goal that started a second period rush in which the club scored eight times, and, with a goal late in the third period, he completed his hat trick.

Murtaugh’s aggressive play, in particular a series of first period checks, helped set an example, as well as bring a wild cheer from an already rowdy crowd.

Big-time hits weren’t all Murtaugh brought to both games.

He had a hat trick Saturday, to go with his one goal Friday.

The aggression and dominance the club played with not only showed on the ice, but could also be clearly seen in the stats. The story of both games was the staggering difference in shots. The hockey club had a two-game total of 128 shots compared to just 28 by the Huskers.

With 12 rookies on the team, chemistry seemed to be an issue entering the weekend. Once play started though, it seemed as if the club began to click.

“It took a period to get the chemistry going, but the second period came and every line was flying and everyone had good chemistry,” Murtaugh said.

Good chemistry might have been a bit of an understatement for a club that after a two-goal first period, came out with a huge eight-goal second to put the game away.

“We like to score real quick, and after we score, we like to score again real quick,” said coach Alan Murdoch.

At 2-0 the Cyclones are off to an impressive start, putting the club in high spirits.

Even Murdoch was in a dancing mood, showing off a few of his moves on the ice to a roar of approval from the fans.

“You’ll notice I usually only dance when we sweep a team,” he said.

The Cyclones’s next home series will be against St. Louis University on Sept. 23-24. The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m. on both nights.