The Iowa State Cyclone hockey team set a school record this weekend with its 12th consecutive victory to open the 1998-99 season.

The Cyclones accomplished the feat on the strength of a two-game sweep of conference opponent Wisconsin-Whitewater. Iowa State won by a combined score of 27-4.

The Cyclones, still without standout forward and team captain Darren Anderson, exploded out of the gate both nights, taking first-period leads they wouldn’t relinquish.

So far, the Cyclones are 3-0 without their injured leader, having outscored their opponents 36-10.

Darren’s brother, Darcy, led the assault on Friday night, netting a natural hat trick before the first intermission.

Instead of sitting on a three-goal lead, the potent Cyclone offense kept up the pressure, moving its total to five by mid-period on another score by Darcy and one by freshman Thierry Oggier.

The Warhawks surged at the end of the second, scoring three times before the third period.

Their attempt to make a game of the fiasco was quickly stymied in the third.

Jeremy Meyer and Joe Fiebiger joined Darcy with goals in the early going of period three to extend the lead to 8-3.

Wisconsin-Whitewater chipped in two more, but Mark Doren added another Cyclone score shortly after Darcy’s final goal.

Anderson finished the game with no fewer than six scores, a new Central States Collegiate Hockey League record.

Darcy was clicking with junior Brian Paolello all night, scoring four of his six goals on Paolello assists.

Sophomore Marc Vargas played well in goal, stopping 25 of 30 shots and pushing his record to 6-0.

In Saturday’s game, the fireworks only increased. The scoring machine that is Darcy Anderson was on again, but he spread the offense around to several teammates as well.

Iowa State jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, picking up goals by Fiebiger, Meyer and Darcy in the first 20 minutes.

Darcy and Nat Little each dented the twine in the second, and Mike Anderson scored twice to extend the Cyclone lead to 7-1.

In the final period of the weekend series, Iowa State apparently decided to go out with a bang, sandwiching seven goals around one Warhawk score.

Doren picked up two goals and Dave Zawadzki and Glenn Detulleo each managed one.

Darcy Anderson also picked up a score and Meyer netted a pair to give each of them a hat trick on the night.

Darcy’s nine goals on the weekend are the most in a series in recent memory. They were also spread out enough that Darcy has begun a seven-period goal scoring-streak, dating back to the Arizona State series of over a week ago.

Sophomore Nick Makris guarded the goal on Saturday, turning away 13 of 15 shots to move to 4-0 on the year.

In addition to Darcy’s 9-goal, 3-assist weekend, Iowa State looked to a number of scoring threats in an offense-dominated series.

Doren had three goals, Meyer had four and Fiebiger and Mike Anderson each managed two scores along with four assists.

Zawadzki had a goal and four assists, Detulleo had a goal and five and Paolello finished with six helpers.

Overall, Coach Al Murdoch’s team appears to be perhaps the deepest to ever skate for the Cardinal and Gold, turning in its two most lopsided victories without its strongest offensive threat.

The Cyclones are on the road this weekend to take on Minot State and North Dakota State, two teams it has already beaten this season.

If all goes well, the Cyclones could be 14-0 when they return to Ames to face the Fighting Illini of Illinois, perhaps their biggest rival, in two weeks.