Last week, ISU soccer coach Tony Minatta wanted to stress taking more shots in games.

Against No. 16 West Virginia on Oct. 17, the Cyclones failed to do that, losing the shot battle 23-2.

“Clearly that fell to the wayside,” Minatta said. “In what we’re trying to impress on [the players] is that any half-chance is a chance. You’ve got to shoot the ball. [West Virginia was] shooting the ball.”

Senior goalkeeper Andrea Swanson had her work cut out for her against West Virginia. With West Virginia’s 23 shots taken, Swanson recorded six saves, bringing her career total to 213. She said Iowa State needs to continue to work on communication throughout all of its lines on the field.

“We fought really hard and we just need to keep bringing that to the field,” Swanson said. “I think we need to take the effort from this game and keep riding it and don’t let that drop off.”

Iowa State competed with the No. 16 team in the nation. The game was scoreless going into halftime. In the 50th minute, West Virginia’s Ashley Lawrence scored from five yards out, making the score 1-0. From then on, the Mountaineers rolled over the Cyclones.

“I thought we came out and fought hard in the first half,” Minatta said. “It wasn’t the prettiest, but we definitely showed that we were here to compete. The second half was unfortunate giving up that first goal, but at the end of the day, they’re the class of the Big 12 for a reason. If we aspire to get to where they’re at, we need to play with a lot more confidence.”

Senior Alyssa Williamson, who Minatta said had a “really good game,” agreed that the Cyclones had a strong first half, but recognized the shot margin.

“We needed to get more shots off,” Williamson said. “For the ones we did get off, it’s not enough to get a lot of shots and not get the goals.”

West Virginia scored two more goals in 71st minute and in the 87th minute, respectively. The final was 3-0, West Virginia.

Iowa State has yet to get a win in the Big 12 this season, but it will search for its first against the Kansas Jayhawks on Oct. 24 in Lawrence, Kan.

“We need to put the ball in the back of the net,” Williamson said. “We can’t win if we don’t put the ball in the net. The focus will be on that along with our attack and moving from there.”