The ISU hockey team showed why it’s ranked No. 2 in the ACHA last weekend as the Cyclones crushed the Marquette Golden Eagles 15-2 on Friday and 17-1 on Saturday.

“It was a damn good weekend,” ISU head coach Al Murdoch said. “It was an unbelievable performance.”

The Cyclones continued to show balanced scoring and incredible depth in the lopsided victories with 11 different goal scorers in each contest. ISU also outshot the Golden Eagles 128-18.

Friday’s blowout didn’t lull the Cyclones into a false sense of security as some of ISU’s big wins have seemed to do this year.

ISU’s leading goal scorer Darren Anderson opened the scoring for the Cyclones at 3:58 of the first period, deflecting a shot from defenseman Chris Sprong past Marquette netminder Larry Rogowin.

ISU didn’t look back from that point.

“We came out of the gate strong and didn’t get behind early like we have in the past,” Cyclone forward Chris Poli said.

ISU blueliner Pat Feezor picked a great time to score his first goal of the season as his wrister at 8:53 of the first proved to be the game winner. It took the Cyclones a mere 40 seconds to add to their lead as Darcy Anderson lit the lamp, knocking the puck in on a rebound of a Brian Paolello shot.

Marquette fended off the ISU onslaught for six minutes until ISU’s Mike Brown pounced on a loose puck in front of Rogowin and fired it top shelf for the first of three goals by the resilient Cyclone forward.

Darren Anderson tallied ISU’s fifth power play goal of the weekend at 16:35 to increase the Cyclone lead to 5-0. A minute later ISU captain Doug Borud snapped a nice pass onto the tape of Sean Weaver’s stick and Weaver fired the puck past Rogowin’s glove.

The first period came to a merciful end with the Cyclones leading Marquette 7-0 after a Poli backhand found the net.

The second period began with Karl Boehm replacing Rogowin in the Golden Eagle net. It would make little difference as the Cyclone steamroller continued to flatten Marquette.

The Cyclones struck first in the second period at 10:17. Brian Paolello backhanded a Darcy Anderson shot through Boehm’s five-hole. Instead of being complacent and allowing breakdowns, the ISU attack only intensified.

Brown took center stage at 15:25, notching his second goal of the contest on a short-handed breakaway. Brown carried the puck in on Boehm and spanked the hapless goaltender with a sweet backhand.

The goal marked Brown’s third short-handed score of the year to take the team lead in scoring on the penalty kill.

ISU once again started the scoring in the third, this time from Jason Vega on a nice one-time pass from Feezor.

Brown completed his hat-trick with assists going to Mike Anderson and Wade Eldridge, to increase the ISU lead to 13-0.

At 15:08 Darcy Anderson showcased his talents once again for the capacity crowd. After Brian Paolello’s shot was stopped by Boehm, Darcy retrieved the puck and pulled it around a Marquette defender, somehow keeping control of the frozen disc and snapping a forehand shot into the net.

Marquette broke ISU goalie Neil Gilmore’s goose egg at 17:44 when Tom Dine scored for the Golden Eagle’s lone goal.

Friday’s game featured the same type of explosive offense from ISU. The Cyclones scored more goals by the third period than Marquette would total in shots.

ISU was led in scoring Friday by Borud, two goals and three assists and Darren Anderson, a hat trick and two assists. ISU’s Aaron Scharf scored a goal and assisted on three others while Dressel returned to the lineup to notch two goals and two assists.

Cyclone goaltender Rob Howitt picked up the win Friday to remain undefeated this year.

“We’ve really got the momentum going now,” Murdoch said. “The things we’re coaching are starting to show up. The players are responding very well to what we want them to do.”

ISU’s special team’s play was just what Murdoch expected from his players after emphasizing that aspect of the game during practice. “We had six special team’s goals on Friday alone,” Murdoch said.

The Cyclones travel to North Dakota to take on NDSU Nov. 22 and 23. Despite the fact that NDSU has a strong program, which has captured eight national titles in the past, Murdoch expects nothing less than a sweep.

“Most coaches would go in and be happy with a split,” Murdoch said. “We’re going to go in and take both games.”