The Ames/ISU Ice Arena is starting to become an opponent’s nightmare and is beginning to boast the hockey version of “Hilton Magic” for the ISU men’s hockey team.

Andrew Murdoch scored a hat trick as his three second-period goals lifted the Cyclones to a 6-3 Saturday win over the Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks in a Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) contest.

With the win, No. 10 Iowa State is 21-14-2 overall and 8-7-1 in the CSCHL. The team also posted their third consecutive home sweep and is 15-8-1 at home. Wisconsin-Whitewater slipped to 3-16-2 overall, 1-14-1 in the CSCHL.

“It’s still a new ice arena but we’re making it our home and we’re starting to really get the advantage to know the bounce on the boards,” ISU head coach Al Murdoch said. “The fans make a huge difference. The crowds have been great during the last three home series and I’ve been real pleased with that.”

In the first period on Saturday, Wisconsin-Whitewater struck first on a power-play goal from Justin Hanaman. The Cyclones answered three minutes later as Scott Hagen put the puck past Warhawks goaltender Larry Clemens with assists from Brent Popadych and Chris Linden

Andrew Murdoch scored two goals in the second period, one with 16:15 remaining off a feed from Travis Denzel and the other with 10:12 left in the period on a tip-in from a Tom Bass assist. Popadych tallied a late tip-in goal in the period to put the Cyclones up 4-1.

Andrew Murdoch put an exclamation point on the hat trick when he scored 33 seconds into the third period. Wisconsin-Whitewater managed to score two goals in the third period. Travis Fast got the last Cyclone goal late in the period.

Popadych said the home sweep was huge since the Cyclones lost on the road against No. 1 Illinois during the previous weekend.

“This was a must-win weekend for us,” Popadych said. “We’ve got a good fan base and we feel comfortable playing at home. The ice arena is really turning to Hilton Magic.”

In Saturday’s contest, the Cyclones out-shot the Warhawks 59-15. “It was a barn-burner,” Al Murdoch said. “Our guys were cooking. We knew that with Whitewater’s good goaltending that we had to take a lot of shots. We capitalized on screen-shots, tip-ins and rebounds.”

In Friday’s game, the Cyclones came out on top 9-2 as Andrew Murdoch had two goals. Other goals came from Moren, Bass, Daniels, Popadych, Tom Klidzejs, Linden, David Moline and Jeff Smith. Iowa State had two power-play goals.

Andrew Murdoch said that the fans at home are “like the sixth guy..”

“They just go crazy. They’re hanging at the rafters all the time,” he said. “They’re screaming at our guys all the time. They give us the extra boost.”