The ISU Men’s Ice Hockey Club was in a dancing mood again this weekend, after opening conference play against the Saint Louis Billikens, winning 10-0 Friday and 5-0 final Saturday. It was assistant coach Chris Schmale, however, doing the dancing, rather than head coach Al Murdoch.

“I’ve never done the dance before,” Schmale said, referring to the traditional post-series-sweep dance. “That’s always been Murdoch, but in his absence I had to fill in.”

It is Schmale’s first season with the club, and although he has had previous head coaching experience, these were his first two victories while in charge of Iowa State. Schmale was filling in for Murdoch, who was on a weekend recruiting trip to Canada.

The games between Saint Louis and Iowa State appeared, at least by score, to have been of the same caliber as the previous weekend’s games. The story of the series could not be seen in just the score, though.

In last week’s Nebraska series, even as the score continued to rise, both teams maintained their class and integrity. In this weekend’s contest, however, a much different Billikens team began to take exception to the fact they were trailing.

As the score climbed, so did the tension between the two teams. Multiple penalties culminated to produce the first of three Saint Louis ejections Friday night.

Rex Szyper was removed after a game misconduct penalty, which he received after he mouthed off to the referee.

The aggression of the players intensified, which led to the second ejection of the night as Iowa State’s Mike Murtaugh was speared with a stick by an opposing player. Tensions again boiled over only minutes later, when ISU goalkeeper Trent Baker was checked hard while out of the crease, leading to an exchange of punches.

“We were winning, and the kid had no right,” Baker said. “In a close game, I’m not going to come out, I’m not going to retaliate. It was just one of those things where it’s just bush-league on his part.”

Checking a goalkeeper is illegal and heavily frowned upon. All three players who were ejected from Friday’s game were ineligible to play Saturday.

Although the aggression and tension did spill over into Saturday’s contest, it didn’t reach the level it did the previous night.

Almost overshadowed by the ejections in with the series was the outstanding goaltending by both Baker and sophomore Matt Johnson, as both had shutouts. For Baker, it was his second shutout of the season.

“I have to give credit not to just myself, but I have to give credit to the whole team and especially the defense for playing so well,” Baker said.

The club is now 4-0 on the season, having outscored opponents by a combined score of 46-2.