Head Coach Alan Murdoch and the Iowa State Cyclone hockey team moved their record to 10-0 over the weekend with a two-game sweep of the Arizona State Ice Devils.

“We have a young team,” Offensive coach and former Cyclone hockey standout Bill Ward said, “but we have a lot of speed and a lot of guys who have a good knack for the net, and I think it showed this weekend.”

The Cyclones overcame early one-goal deficits in both games to post impressive wins of 5-1 and 9-6, led by the offensive play of senior Darcy Anderson and freshman Glenn Detulleo and the goaltending of sophomore Marc Vargas.

In Friday night’s game, the Cyclones fell behind early in the first but knotted the score at one-apiece on a power-play goal by freshman Thierry Oggier at the 15:04 mark.

After a hard-fought but scoreless second, the Cyclones and Ice Devils prepared to settle the contest in the third period.

Four unanswered goals later, Iowa State emerged victorious.

Jeremy Meyer kicked off the scoring at 1:35 on a clean pass from Greg Jones and Glenn Detulleo added an insurance goal near the middle of the period.

Before it was all said and done, Detulleo would add a second goal and Darcy Anderson would dent the twine off a feed from defenseman Tory Larson.

Marc Vargas faced only 15 shots on goal, turning away all but one. Defensemen Larson, Jones, Marc Sarazin and Rob Rose all turned in big games, as did nearly anyone who patrolled the blue line for Iowa State.

Though the Cyclones escaped Friday’s game with their undefeated record intact, the same could not be said for their roster.

Team captain and senior leader Darren Anderson was injured immediately after assisting on Glenn Detulleo’s goal at 8:30 of the third period. He was only able to leave the ice with considerable assistance.

The hit Darren took from behind after the goal had been scored was described by brother Darcy as “the worst cheap-shot I’ve ever seen.”

Tim Jolley, an Ice Devil forward out of Anchorage, Ala. chopped Darren’s legs out from under him as he celebrated the goal well after the play had come to a close.

“The biggest cheap shot you see in hockey,” Darcy explained, “is the one that comes from behind after a goal is scored, especially one like that with the intent to maim.”

Darcy added that Jolley received increased physical pressure in Saturday’s contest.

“We want to hit everybody, but when we had our chances to hit [Jolley], we made sure he felt it,” Darcy said.

The prognosis on Saturday was not good. Anderson could be out as long as three weeks recovering from a severe sprain and torn cartilage in his ankle.

Of course, he thinks the recovery will be much faster.

“They say three weeks,” Darren said, “but I think I’ll be back next weekend.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s back out on skates on Monday and back in the lineup on Friday,” Murdoch said. “You find that a hockey player’s pain threshold is much higher than most other athletes for some reason.”

The Cyclone offense was, if anything, more explosive on Saturday without their leading scorer.

Juniors Jones and Mike Anderson stepped in to pick up the slack with one of the more physical games played by the Cyclones this season.

After falling behind 1-0 again, early in the first, Iowa State bounced back to tie the score on Todd Dundas’ goal at near mid-period.

Arizona State reclaimed the lead five minutes later, but the Cyclones responded with Detulleo’s third goal of the weekend at 18:45 to enter the second period knotted at two.

Darcy Anderson responded to an early ASU score in the second period with a slapshot off a feed from Marc Sarazin that again tied the score.

At this point, the Cyclone defense began to have some trouble, and the offense struggled to get on track.

The Ice Devils scored three of the next four goals in the second period, broken up only by Detulleo’s fourth and final goal of the weekend. After the Arizona State offensive barrage, the score stood at 6-4, and the Cyclone bench was visibly concerned.

It was at about this point that the scrappy 5-foot-10, 180-pound Greg Jones got up a head of steam and dumped a streaking Ice Devil over the side boards and onto the Arizona State bench.

“I just timed the hit right,” Jones said, “and he didn’t see it coming, so he went head over heels onto the bench. I couldn’t help but laugh.”

With renewed fan support, aided by several crushing Mike Anderson checks, the Cyclone offense quickly righted the ship.

Mike started the comeback at 14:50 on assists from Sarazin and Darcy Anderson and Meyer tied the score just over three minutes later.

Fittingly, Jones finished the rally he had started by banging home a Mike Anderson pass at 19:12 and giving the Cyclones a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“I’m not really expected to score a lot,” Jones said, “but thankfully I got that one.”

Sarazin and Darcy Anderson added insurance goals in a third period marked by vicious checking and increased physical play. Darcy, Mike, Jones and Sean Strama provided most of the Cyclone fireworks as they cemented their undefeated record at 10-0.

“The crowd loves the big hits,” Mike said after the game, “and I was fortunate tonight to have a few opportunities to make some.”

“It was a total team effort,” Darcy said after the game. “We got a lot of guys that are stepping up right now, and the team unity we have is what has made this team 10-and-0. We have more chemistry on this team than I’ve seen in all my four years here.”

“Who would’ve ever dreamed,” Murdoch said. “I wanted to be .500 at this point, especially with 15 rookies in the lineup.”

A number of those rookies have added to the depth of the Cyclone roster, which featured eight scorers over the weekend.

“We have four lines plus a few skaters,” Coach Ward said, “and I think any one of them can go out there and put the puck in the net for us.”

Darren Anderson was equally impressed with the players who filled in during his absence.

“We’ve been talking about these younger guys from the start,” he said, “and it just goes to prove that they can step in at any time and fill the net.”

The play of Detulleo, who finished the weekend with four goals and one assist, was a hot topic of conversation after game two.

“He’s got great hockey sense and he plays with great enthusiasm,” Murdoch said. “He’s also got good wheels — he’s an excellent skater and he’s got quick feet. This weekend, he scored some key goals to put us back in the games.”

In net, Vargas came on in relief of sophomore Nick Makris midway through the second period of Saturday’s game and gave up only one goal on eight shots the rest of the way. Overall, he stopped 21 of 23 shots and picked up two convincing wins.

“Vargas played outstanding Friday,” Murdoch said, “and came off the bench to play well [Saturday], too.”

“It’s a little difficult to come off the bench,” Vargas said, “but you just have to stay focused on the game so when you get the call, you’re ready to play.”

The Cyclones outshot the Ice Devils 99-40 between the two weekend contests.

“Arizona State’s got a good team,” Strama said after the second win, “but I think we just showed that we’re a better team.”