When the final buzzer blares and senior Emily Goldstein walks off her home field for the final time, the feelings she anticipates having will be a far cry from her feelings as a freshman.

“I was scared all the time, and I played very scared,” Goldstein said. “The team wasn’t as close when I got here and I think that’s been a big thing the past four years is unifying the team.”

Goldstein is one of nine seniors that will say goodbye to the Cyclone Sports Complex after the ISU soccer team’s final, regular season game Friday night against Oklahoma State.

For ISU coach Wendy Dillinger, this senior class has meant a great deal to her. They were Dillinger’s first recruiting class, and many started as freshman, with only one player from that original class transferring.

“I’m super excited for them, and they’ve been tremendous along the way,” Dillinger said. “The biggest thing this group has done is redefining the culture of the program in terms of commitment, excellence, work rate, dedication and drive. They have never stopped working to move forward.”

A big step in redefining the culture of ISU soccer is the guaranteed spot at the Big 12 tournament for the first time since 2007. The Cyclones are also in the running to finish in fourth place, the highest since a third-place finish in 2005.

In order for the Cyclones to finish fourth in the standings and earn the fourth seed in the tournament, they will need to beat the Cowgirls and see if Baylor will beat Texas Christian. Due to Iowa State’s 1-0 overtime victory against Baylor on Oct. 18, the Cyclones would win the subsequent head-to-head tiebreaker against the Bears.

With different scenarios surrounding Iowa State’s tournament destiny, Dillinger is focused on what she and her team can control, but that does not mean she isn’t paying attention to what seed the team could land.

“We could potentially land in fourth place, which would be ideal, but again doing that doesn’t necessarily put us in the matchup we want,” Dillinger said. “We’ve seen everybody, and the teams that we’ll likely end up seeing are teams we’ve faced in the last two weeks.”

Iowa State will kick off against Oklahoma State at the Cyclone Sports Complex at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.