The fifth-ranked Iowa State hockey team made the most of its only home series in a near two-month span this weekend, as they cruised to three victories over the Colorado State Rams and Marquette Golden Eagles.

Iowa State (10-2-1) rounded out their stay with a 9-3 pounding of the Golden Eagles behind a pair of rookie goalies and explosive center Mike Ogbourne, in a Sunday afternoon contest.

Freshmen Mike Grammatikos and Neil Gilmore shut down the Marquette attack, while the Cyclone offense hammered Eagle goalie Larry Rogowin.

Gilmore was pleased with the performance of both himself and Grammatikos.

“You have to wait a long time to get in a game, so you have to make the most of what you have when you get a chance to play,” Gilmore said. “And I think we did real well.”

Both were also very grateful toward the Cyclone defense.

“We played really well defensively. We didn’t have to do much,” Gilmore said. “If we make a save, they’re going to be right on the rebound, so we don’t have to worry about our second saves.”

Added Grammatikos, “It makes our job a hell of a lot easier.”

Head Coach Al Murdoch was also happy about the performance of his young netminders.

“It’s always a tough game when you’re standing in the net and getting cold,” he said. “But they played real well.”

Sunday also turned out to be the weekend’s second episode of “The Mike Ogbourne Show,” as the sophomore lit up Marquette with his second hat trick and assist performance of the weekend.

Mike Cech, Rusty Crawford, Mike Przytarski, Josh Ruston and Jason Vega each added two points to the Cyclone offensive onslaught.

ISU opened their series with Colorado State on Friday night by skating to a 7-4 victory.

Ogbourne, who figured in the first four Cyclone scores with three goals and an assist, gave the credit for his big outing to his linemates and a friendly puck.

“The wingers on my line were really giving me some good feeds and I got some good bounces,” he said.

Murdoch was delighted by the play of his leading scorer.

“We got a tremendous effort from Mike Ogbourne again tonight,” he said.

Although ISU seemed to control most of the contest, it was actually tied until midway through the third period.

Freshman forward Chris Poli gave the Cyclones a 5-4 lead that they would not relinquish at 10:18 of the final stanza, when he slapped in the rebound off of a Ruston shot.

Sophomores Crawford and Brian Wierson contributed three assists and two goals respectively for ISU.

According to Murdoch, Crawford’s assists proved how well things went for the Cyclones.

“That’s a good sign, when you see a defenseman getting assists on goals,” Murdoch said. “That means the team’s really starting to click.”

Sophomore Rob Howitt turned away 31 Colorado State shots for the Cyclones.

ISU completed their sweep of the defending Division II champion Rams on Saturday night behind stellar goaltending from senior Kyle Geiger and a pair of goals from freshman Mark Doren.

After recording his first career goal as a Cyclone in Friday’s game, Doren erupted for two more to lead ISU to a 6-3 triumph.

“The puck happened to come to me at the right time and I put it in,” Doren said.

Doren added that more ice time, in the form of a regular shift, has contributed significantly to his success.

In keeping with the trend set by Doren, fellow freshman Wade Eldridge scored his first Cyclone goal at 6:07 of the second period, giving ISU the lead for good.

Geiger stoned the Rams for 35 saves, including a series of acrobatic stops when the game was still in doubt.

With these three games sandwiched between seven weekends on the road, the Cyclones have learned to appreciate the comforts of home.

“We play good wherever we are,” Ogbourne said. “But it, of course, feels good to be home, to sleep in your own bed and get good food.”

Doren added, “It’s real nice to be home. The fans here are great. I love playing in front of these fans.”