Going into the season, Head Coach Al Murdoch’s Iowa State hockey team promised a wealth of scoring and excitement for its fans, and if Friday night was any indication, he is exactly right.

In front of a record crowd for an intersquad game, the Cardinal and Gold sides battled to an 8-8 tie that featured a plethora of speed, scoring and hitting.

All of the action delighted Murdoch who allowed assistant coaches Bill VanRossum, T.J. Reinsch, Rick Hahn and Matt Fuchsen to handle the teams so that he could “just watch the game and get a good look at everything.”

“We played good end-to-end hockey,” Murdoch said. “We’re a real big team and have a lot speed so that allows us to just cut loose and go.”

The players were also pleased by their first performance in a game situation.

“I think we’re looking good,” said Jason Vega, a sophomore center. “We’ve got a good defensive core and our goaltending is always solid.”

Even with the solid showing, some believe that there is room for improvement.

“We played real strong in the second and third periods, but in the first we were a little shaky,” said Doug Borud, a junior left wing.

“This was only our fifth day on the ice, though, so I think by the middle of next week we should be ready to go.”

Junior forward Sean Weaver registered a hat trick and assist, while freshman left wing Cliff Cook tallied four points to lead the Cardinal team.

The Gold squad was sparked by freshman defenseman Chad Evers who netted two goals to go along with Borud’s goal and assist.

Along with all of the scoring, there was plenty of hitting to go around throughout the game.

During the first period, Borud delivered the hit of the night that landed freshman forward Chris Poli on the Gold bench.

Murdoch explained that all of the hitting during the game was for good reason.

“Some of the guys were still fighting for a position so there was going to be a lot of hitting,” Murdoch said.

The goal of the night came when sophomore forward John Paolello beat Mike Grammatikos, the second Cardinal goaltender, at the 16:48 point of the second period with a shot while lying on his stomach.

As if all of the night’s previous action wasn’t enough for those in attendance at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, Cook tied the contest 7-7 at 19:34 of the third and started a thrilling final thirty seconds.

Borud once again gave Gold the lead, and looked to put the game away, when he scored on a breakaway past Ryan Eldridge, the final Cardinal goalie, at the 19:49 mark.

The Gold celebration was short-lived, though, as a penalty was called with just two seconds to play, setting up the most exciting play in hockey — the penalty shot.

Weaver was chosen to take the final shot and ended the game when he bested Mike Borud, the last Gold goalie, for the completion of his hat trick.

After the game, Murdoch expressed his readiness to start the season.

“It’s really going to be something next weekend,” Murdoch said.

The players agreed, “We’re going to take it to everyone during the season,” Vega said. “We’re going to be national champs.”

The season officially opens for ISU Hockey with the Cyclone Invitational Tournament Sept. 29 and 30.