With a weekend sweep of conference rival Western Michigan, coach Al Murdoch and the Iowa State hockey team guaranteed themselves a first-place finish in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League heading into the league tourney next weekend.

The Cyclones dominated their rivals Friday and Saturday in every aspect of the game, notching 10-0 and 4-0 wins.

“These were our last regular season CSCHL games,” Darren Anderson said. “We knew our destiny was in our hands, and we just jumped all over them from the start.”

Dan LaVoie was brilliant in goal for both contests, turning aside 41 total shots on the weekend to pick up both his first and second career shutouts.

“Danny LaVoie was stellar in net,” Anderson said. “He was just superb in both games.”

LaVoie moved his record to 10-1-2 with the two victories.

“Dan made some spectacular saves on both nights,” defenseman Marc Sarazin said.

In game one, the Stallions stayed close for the first ten minutes but fell apart when Greg Jones opened up the scoring for ISU at the 12:10 mark.

Anderson and Sarazin added power play goals late in the opening frame to push the lead to three by the first buzzer.

The Cyclones didn’t let up down the stretch, adding four second-period goals and three in the third.

In addition to second tallies for Anderson and Sarazin, Brian Paolello chipped in a pair of goals and Jesse Monell, Jeff Smith and Martin Birch each added single scores.

“Friday was just the first step for us,” Anderson said. “It was an all-around team effort. All of our lines were going strong, our special teams were outstanding and we kept the goals-against way down.”

“It was just good, hard work on our part,” Sarazin said. “We were hitting well and playing strong and we just did what we had to for the win.”

Both games were physical battles; the teams combined for 339 penalty minutes overall, but it was in Saturday’s game that Western Michigan played aggressively.

“They tried to get us off our game by playing chippy,” Anderson said. “There was a lot of aggression, but we have to be smarter out there and not take a lot of penalties.”

Darcy Anderson, who didn’t find the net in game one but turned in a spectacular five-assist performance, opened up the Cyclone scoring in the second contest with a power play goal midway through the opening frame.

Mike Ogbourne and Nat Little added second period scores and Birch rounded out the scoring with a third period tally.

“We all seem to be mentally focused on the task at hand,” Sarazin said. “We’re working hard, and it’s beginning to pay off for us.”

The Cyclone defense continued to surge, keeping the heat off of its goaltender.

“Our defense was a big concern for us earlier in the season because teams looked at that as our weakness,” Anderson said. “To build a winner, you need a great defense and a great transition game, and we’ve worked a lot on both of those areas.”

The “D,” led by veterans like Jones and newcomers like Sarazin, allowed only 22 shots on Friday and 19 on Saturday. They also never allowed a barrage of shots, holding the Stallion offense to 10 or fewer in every period.

“We’ve emphasized taking the opposition at the blue line,” Sarazin said, “and that leaves them with no alternatives.”

Heading into the weekend CSCHL tournament, the team realizes that everyone will be gunning for them.

“Any top ten team thinks they have a chance to beat us,” Anderson said. “When you’re ranked No. 1, everyone plays their best against you.”

The short-term goal of the team is to capture this weekend’s crown, but beyond that, nationals looms large.

“We want to win out the season to be in the perfect position for nationals,” Sarazin said. “We accomplished one goal this weekend, but that’s minimal compared to what we’re shooting for.”