The Iowa State hockey team took one more step Wednesday toward a possible national championship with a 7-2 victory over Eastern Michigan in the ACHA national tournament in Delaware.

Coach Al Murdoch’s Cyclones jumped on the board early and put together an explosive third period in routing the Eagles, a team that had given the Cyclones some problems in the regular season.

“It’s a very good start for us,” associate head coach Bill Ward said of his team’s effort. “We’re eating well, we’re rested; there’s some anxiety, but we didn’t show any nerves tonight.”

The Cyclones jumped on top early with junior Mike Anderson scoring at around the four-minute mark of the first.

Glenn Detulleo was then able to make the lead 2-0 at the midpoint of the period.

“Glenn was moving across the slot,” Ward said, “and he drew the goaltender out toward him before he beat him to the opposite corner.”

Despite firing 17 shots at a pair of EMU goaltenders, the Cyclones were only able to net the pair of first-period goals. When the Eagles’ starter went down shortly after Anderson’s score, their second-string netminder came on, but was also very effective.

In the second period, EMU attempted to rally, scoring just 48 seconds in.

“They were able to capitalize on a giveaway in our defensive zone,” Ward said. “We turned the puck over and they were able to catch [Cyclone goalie Dan] LaVoie off guard and make the score 2-1.”

Ward explained that their aggressive style produced odd-man rushes and breakaway opportunities, but the Cyclones were usually able to neutralize them.

“Eastern plays a wide-open style,” Ward said. “They send their forwards out a lot and play an aggressive style that’s not always easy to defend.”

Tom Grimwood answered for ISU on a perfect feed from Thierry Oggier.

“The goalie tried to take away the angle and Grimwood shelved it over him,” Ward said.

With just over five minutes remaining, the Eagles again drew within a point, scoring on a breakaway and making the score 3-2 at the end of the second period.

In the third, the Cyclones really went to work, scoring four unanswered goals to assure themselves of a first-round win.

Junior Greg Jones opened the scoring with a solo performance, beating a trio of defenders before skating to the middle and using a final EMU player as a screen to beat their goalie stickside.

The remainder of the period was quiet until an EMU forward decided to go after LaVoie, rushing him as the freshman skated out to ice a puck.

The charge resulted in a two-minute penalty, but the Cyclones needed just 10 seconds to score.

“Our guys were a little heated after that incident,” Ward said. “In hockey, the goalie is off limits and players really take offense at a move like that.”

A pair of crisp passes between Detulleo, Darcy Anderson and Darren Anderson provided the latter a solid shot on goal that increased the margin to 5-2.

Late goals by Mike Ogbourne and Jeff Smith moved the final score to 7-2.

“We came out flying in the first and that set the tone,” Ward said. “We hit them with a barrage of shots and we used our speed to create a lot of scoring chances.”

The Cyclones remain confident, but not overconfident going into the season’s final three contests.

“It’s one down, three to go,” Ward said, “but it’s really one down, one to go. We’re not taking anybody lightly, especially not Delaware.”

The host team will face the Cyclones tomorrow night at 6 p.m. Delaware split its season series with No. 3 Michigan-Dearborn and tied No. 2 Penn State earlier in the season, but has yet to face ISU.