The Iowa State women’s soccer team is coming off a weekend where it lost a heartbreaker to Creighton University in the final minutes of the game, while also getting back in the win column with a victory over the University of Nebraska Omaha and moving to 2-4 on the season.

Up next for the Cyclones is a stretch of four road games starting on Friday, when they travel to St. Louis to take on the Saint Louis University (SLU) Billikens. Following the game against Saint Louis, the Cyclones will travel to Edwardsville, Illinois, to take on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Cougars.

The win over Omaha showcased a Cyclone attack that positioned themselves with scoring opportunities all throughout the game and a defense that kept constant pressure, limiting Omaha to just eight total shots throughout the game.

The success that the Cyclones found in that game is something they look to accomplish more often as the season progresses and Big 12 play starts to come into view.

As coach Tony Minatta has brought up, consistency is what will pave the path of success for the young Iowa State squad.

The team has shown some struggle in remaining consistent, finding times where they lose the energy in the second half or don’t get the two complete halves that they want. That being said, the win over Omaha brought a sense of excitement to the Cyclone squad, which is something they want to maintain heading into their game against Saint Louis.

“I think the biggest thing is realizing we won and that it’s exciting, we have confidence and it’s fun,” said senior defender Carly Langhurst.

Langhurst also said that the team needs to keep the confidence up as they head toward the weekend.

One of the key things the Cyclones need to do this weekend is keep up with their constant pressure on the ball all over the pitch. Both Saint Louis and SIUE have been no strangers to finding the back of the net so far in their respective seasons.

Going into their matchup against the Cyclones, Saint Louis stands at 3-3 and has managed to net seven total goals through its six games. Meanwhile, SIUE currently stands at 1-2-1 and has also netted seven goals, but only through four games.

The Cyclones will need to look for a repeat of the performance they had against Omaha where they allowed very limited attack opportunities for the opposing team and dominated the time of possession.

“We’ve been on a struggle lately, but we just needed that one spark; we got it now and we’re looking for a streak going ahead,” said freshmen midfielder Mira Emma.

The Cyclones’ first game of the weekend is at 7 p.m. Friday against Saint Louis and will be streamed through ESPN+. Their second game has a kickoff scheduled at 2 p.m. Sunday against SIUE.