The ISU men’s hockey club faces the Arizona State Sun Devils Friday and Saturday, and some players will see a familiar face on the other side.

Arizona State’s John Baker is from West Des Moines and a couple of the Cyclone players have played with him in the past.

“This should be a great series,” co-captain Andrew Murdoch said.

“They want to go to nationals and will have to get through us first.”

This weekend is also Family Weekend, so ISU head coach Al Murdoch said it would be a good opportunity to head out and watch some hockey.

Al Murdoch said fans won’t be disappointed.

“Get your season tickets now so you won’t have to wait in the long lines,” Al Murdoch said.

“There will be people tailgating, so come ready to party.”

The team got off to a great start with big wins over the North Metro Owls last weekend.

Iowa State won Friday 6-2 with three rookies scoring.

Trent Mozak had three goals for the hat trick.

The Cyclones followed up that performance with an impressive 9-1 win Saturday night.

The newcomers were solid once again with four of them scoring.

Al Murdoch said Saturday’s contest was a hard-fought contest.

“The game was physical but clean,” he said.

With sophomores making up the majority of the 15 players back for Murdoch’s squad, some might think the Cyclones are short on experience.

That’s not the case, Murdoch said.

He called the youthfulness a strength of his club and said they’re an exciting bunch out on the ice.

“The defense is the best since I’ve been here,” Andrew Murdoch said.

“We are very solid at forward and we go three deep at goalie.”

The Cyclones schedule looks to be difficult this year with eight of the top 10 teams in the league making the trip to Ames.

Some of the teams standing in the way of another CSCHL title are rival Illinois, Delaware – which finished second at nationals last year – and Ohio State.

Al Murdoch said Minot State will also be a force to reckon with. All but two of their players are from Canada, and they will definitely be a difficult team to beat.

The league is solid from top to bottom, Al Murdoch said.

“Our goals are to repeat as CSCHL Champions, make it to the Final Four and win it all,” Andrew Murdoch said.