The sixth-rated Cyclone men’s hockey team proved to be too powerful for Minnesota State-Mankato, as it notched 10-4 and 10-2 victories over the weekend.

Friday night’s contest saw the Cyclones spread the scoring wealth around, as they had 10 different players score goals while goalies Jake Hinderman and Nathan Dahlen combined for 24 saves.

“Games like this really help you work on your focus,” Assistant Coach Chuck Wight said. “You have to come out ready to play or an underdog team will inevitably upset you. Tonight, we were ready to play.”

After the losses, Minnesota State-Mankato’s Head Coach Ryan Swafford said his team definitely showed the effects of the layoff during break, but he was impressed with the puck movement that the Cyclones had during the weekend.

“They definitely created a lot of shots for themselves,” Swafford said. “We needed to quit standing around and start moving our feet and creating shots like they were doing.”

Jeff Smith, Glenn Detulleo, Brian Paolello, Mike Anderson, Andrew Murdoch, Jeremy Meyer, Nat Little, Scott Steinkamp, Pat Feezor and Eric Tofte all scored goals Friday night for the Iowa State cause.

Tofte’s goal was the first of the season for the forward from Grand Forks, N.D.

“It felt good to get that first one of the season,” Tofte said. “As a team, we stayed very focused because we know that no matter who comes in here we have to play hard for 60 minutes.”

Saturday night was much of the same for the Cyclones, as Detulleo notched another hat trick this season, and Paolello and Little netted two goals apiece in the victory while Andrew Murdoch, Mike Gilbertson and Chris Leyen each added one goal.

In front of the goal, Phil Popp garnered 18 saves in the first two periods, and Dahlen secured the win in the third period with three saves of his own.

Coach Wight thought the weekend was an excellent chance for some of the lesser-used players to get needed ice experience.

“A game like this allows us to get experience for guys who may be called upon down the road to step up and perform,” he said.

One player for the Cyclones who has experience, but needs time on the ice is senior Greg Jones. Jones returned to the team this semester after being gone during the fall.

“The fact that this team is so cohesive has really helped my return to the ice,” Jones said. “The more I skate, the more I am getting my timing back, but my balance and agility need to get better.”

The Cyclones, now 21-9-1 overall and 6-6 in the CSCHL, travel to Arizona this weekend for a showdown with the seventh-rated Arizona State Ice Devils. The team knows it needs to be on the top of its game.

“We want to be sharp next weekend,” Wight said. “This week we will continue to focus on our execution.”

Tofte said, “It will be a very big series on the road for us. We’d like to continue playing hard and go down there and get two wins.”