The ISU hockey team began its CSCHL season by hosting the University of Illinois this past weekend. The Cyclones and Illini played before full houses during both games at the Ames Ice Arena.

The Cyclones earned a sweep, winning 4-3 on Friday and 7-3 on Saturday.

“People love to see good, quality hockey,” said ISU coach Al Murdoch.

“You feed off the fans,” said ISU defenseman Tory Larson. “It seems that the bigger name colleges bring out the larger crowds.”

Illinois drew first blood on Friday as Steve Cichocki placed the puck past ISU keeper Nate Dahlen, putting the Illini up 1-0.

The Cyclones answered quickly when Glenn Detulleo scored about eight-and-a-half minutes into the game.

Just over halfway through the first, Matt Katsaros took advantage of a power play chance, and the Illini went up 2-1.

Late in the period, Mark Krueger evened the score again as the game went into the first intermission tied at two.

The Cyclone defense tightened up after the Katsaros goal, not allowing Illinois to score during the second frame.

Meanwhile, Iowa State made the best out of two different situations to lead 4-2 at the end of the second. Jeff Smith lit the lamp during a power play opportunity, and Nat Little made a short-handed goal with a little over two minutes left.

Luke Carlson got the Illini got back within a goal early in the third period, but that ended up being the final goal of the match.

Despite some good chances for Illinois to tie the game, the Cyclones held on for a 4-3 win.

The first period of Saturday’s game was a goaltending showcase between Dahlen and Illini goalie Tim Danlow.

Both netminders stopped ten shots as the contest was scoreless at the end of one period of play.

The second period turned out to be a game of give-and-take between the two teams.

Krueger started the scoring with a power play goal about seven minutes into the second. Less than a minute later, Carlson beat Dahlen to tie the score.

About ten minutes later, Jeremy Meyer made good on a power-play chance, giving the Clones another one-goal lead. The Illini took only 16 seconds to come up with an equalizer, with the answer coming from the stick of Kyle Zabrin.

Just 90 seconds left, Larson gave Iowa State a 3-2 lead that it would hold until intermission.

The Cyclones grabbed its second 4-2 lead of the series about two minutes into the third, when Krueger scored a short-handed goal past Danlow.

This turned out to be the game-winning goal as the ISU defense shut down Illinois’ offensive attack, giving up only one goal throughout the rest of the game.

Detulleo and Smith each scored their second goal of the series, and Krueger finished off a hat trick as Iowa State pulled away to a 7-3 win.

“This series was really important for us,” Murdoch said. “Now that we’re into league play, it’s almost a requirement to win at home.”

“It’s very disappointing,” said Illini head coach Chad Cassel. “We expected to do well here.”

Although the Illini could not come away with a victory this weekend, Coach Cassel isn’t panicking.

“I’m confident that if we play a complete game, we can beat anybody,” he said. “We just have to come ready to play for 60 minutes.”

An issue that the Cyclones were concerned with coming into this weekend was their defense.

In the end, it was the play of both back-lines that was the difference in how the two games turned out.

“I think our defense played very well [Friday] night,” Cassel said. “[On Saturday], we turned the puck over too much in the D-zone.”

“I know how good Illinois is,” Larson said. “[The defensemen] had a meeting before the game to talk. We said it was time to step it up.”

Coach Murdoch also attributed the wins to his special teams units, which scored six goals (four power-play, two short-handed) during the series.

The team will now prepare to host a Homecoming triple-header to end its six-week homestand.

Arizona State rolls into Ames for a Friday-Saturday series, followed by a Sunday game against Des Moines College.

The first two games start at 7:30 p.m., and the Sunday contest will be a 1:30 p.m. matinee.

All the games will be played at the Ames Ice Arena.