Iowa State hockey took another step toward a possible national title this weekend with a pair of convincing wins over the Warhawks of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Playing a team with considerably less depth and talent at the skill positions, the Cyclones were able to jump on the scoreboard early and often in both Friday night’s 18-2 win and Saturday’s 12-1 win.

Junior Mike Anderson led the ISU offense, tallying five goals and four assists in the two games.

“Thirty goals is probably too many for two games because Wisconsin-Whitewater is, in reality, a pretty good team,” head coach Al Murdoch said. “That’s just the way our team is this year. I don’t want to slow them down too much and, at the same time, I think fans got their money’s worth as far as goals scored.”

In Friday’s contest, the Cyclones took the lead at just over one minute into the first period and never looked back. They finished the period up 4-1 and tacked on six more scores in the third.

After a quick Warhawk goal to open up the final 20 minutes, the Cyclones added eight of their own to put the game convincingly out of reach.

“We’re on a roll,” junior defenseman Greg Jones said. “We have to strive for excellence every game and keep trying to reach our plateau at the right time.”

Despite the 18 goals, the Cyclone defense may have been more impressive than the offense. The “D” held Wisconsin to just 22 shots on the game and kept the Warhawks out of the defensive zone for the majority of play.

“At Penn State, the papers were saying our defense was a little shaky,” 6-foot-5-inch defenseman Tory Larson said, “so we took some offense to that, and I think we’re still proving ourselves.”

Sophomore Nick Makris was superb in goal, turning away 20 of the 22 shots. Makris was only beaten during a five-on-three powerplay opportunity for Wisconsin and on a one-on-none breakaway.

“The two goals were both a little disappointing because they were breakdowns,” Jones said. “That’s one of the things we still need to work on. We have a little ways to go.”

“These are the hardest games to play for me because I didn’t see the shots,” Makris said after the contest. “Naturally, I’m thinking about the fourth question on the test I just took today, and I’m not thinking about stopping the puck.”

Glenn Detulleo led the offense in game one, turning in a hat trick and dishing four assists.

The Cyclones’ trio of Andersons — Mike, Darcy and Darren — each contributed a pair of goals on the night as well as combining for eight assists. Other goals were added by Jeremy Meyer, Mike Ogbourne, Jeff Smith, Thierry Oggier, Jesse Monell, Martin Birch, Marc Sarazin, Anthony Penner and Brian Paolello.

In addition, Paolello managed five assists on Brian Paolello Night at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

In Saturday’s contest, the Cyclones needed somewhat longer to put away their opponents, but again, they never trailed.

Darren Anderson gave ISU a 1-0 lead just over 12 minutes into the game, and the first period ended with the same score.

By the end of the second, the lead was pushed to 5-1 and a seven-goal barrage in the last 20 minutes made the final score 12-1.

“After taking it to them [on Friday], we were expecting a lot of chippiness, and that’s what happened in the first period,” sophomore Jesse Monell said. “We spent a lot of time in the penalty box and, when we do that, we’re not as effective as we should be. We were able to stay away from it in the second and third periods and that allowed us to put the puck in the net.”

Defense and goaltending were again both outstanding, with freshman netminder Dan LaVoie turning away 21 of the Warhawks’ 22 shots.

“Shots against have been way down,” LaVoie said. “The defenders have been blocking shots and playing really strong at the blue line, not even letting the guys come in.”

Offensively, Mike Anderson’s hat trick was tops for the team.

“It’s kind of a cop-out to say I’ve got great linemates,” Anderson said, “but they got me the puck all weekend, and I was just able to put it away.”

Darren Anderson had another two-goal performance on Saturday and also managed a pair of assists.

Detulleo’s three Saturday assists moved his weekend point total to an even 10 (three goals, seven assists).

Other scorers on Saturday for ISU included Meyer, Smith, Sarazin, Peolello, Birch, Monell and Ogbourne.

“Everyone played their position well,” Birch said. “Everyone did the job and got a chance to step up and put some goals in the net and possibly get their confidence up for some harder games.”

“We definitely have some momentum going,” assistant coach Bill Ward said. “We haven’t peaked yet, but we’re moving in that direction. We just have to do it at the right time.”

Mike Anderson insists that, despite the 27-4-2 record and the seven-game winning streak, the team won’t be taking anyone lightly.

“We know that nothing’s ever set in stone, so we’re not about to hold our heads up high like we’re better than everybody else,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough road. We’re the No. 1 ranked team, so everyone’s going to be gunning for us. We’re confident, though, and hopefully, we’ll carry it through.”