DES MOINES — Two games and two draws through 220 minutes of play. Quite literally, it was a long weekend for the Cyclones.

Iowa State played Big 12 opponent Kansas to a scoreless draw Friday and then two days later travelled to Drake and tied the Bulldogs 1-1 on Sunday. The results were not what ISU coach Wendy Dillinger and her team were looking for, but there was still room for optimism.

“I thought we got a good result on Friday against Kansas. We out-played them and we had a lot of good chances, as did they, but both keepers came up big,” Dillinger said. “We had chances to finish Friday and [Sunday], so we just have to get in and finish the play.”

Kansas

Iowa State controlled the first half of the game against Kansas, not only winning the possession battle, but also keeping the ball deep in Kansas territory and repeatedly challenging the backline of the Jayhawks with deep passes to forwards past the Kansas defense.

The offensive attack for the Cyclones was not enough to muster a goal, and as the clock began to wind down, Kansas launched a counter assault of their own. Goalkeeper Maddie Jobe and the Cyclone defense answered the call, thwarting several of Kansas’ opportunities at goal.

“Defensively, we did what we needed to do and we did our job,” Dillinger said. “We didn’t have any mental mistakes, we didn’t have any mental let downs which is why we have the shut out.”

The second half was a stalemate from beginning to end as each side traded possession, relentlessly challenging the goalkeepers.

Ninety minutes was not enough to decide a winner, so the two teams went into sudden death overtime. After two 10-minute periods, neither team could get the ball past the hands of the keepers and the game ended in a draw.

In a scoreless game it can be hard to pinpoint the star player on offense, but Dillinger praised the play of senior midfielder Emily Goldstein. Dillinger said that Goldstein’s second half may have been the best half Goldstein has had all season.

“It was a big turning point in my season and I want to get to Kansas City,” Goldstein said. “I took a step back from the first half and put everything I had into the second half.”

The draw leaves the Cyclones still yearning for a first conference victory, and as the conference schedule picks up, so will the play.

“It’s Big 12 play, you have to come out hard and you can’t just sit and let them run at you,” Jobe said. “It’s always a big game and it’s always an intense game.”

Drake

The song remained the same for the Cyclones on Sunday when they travelled to James Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines to take on Drake.

Iowa State maintained possession on Drake’s side of the field throughout the first 45 minutes, getting open looks on goal, but failing to earn a point as Drake consistently blocked shots from outside the penalty area.

The second half began in the same fashion, but began to play to a different tune from the previous three halves. After two Drake goals were nulled after offside calls, the Bulldogs put home the first goal of the match 20 minutes into the second half.

“Give their forward credit. She got the ball, turned and fired a shot,” Dillinger said. “She executed well and we were a little late to respond to it.”

Iowa State answered five minutes later as Haley Albert found the ball in the air and headed home the first goal of the weekend. After the second half whistle, Iowa State found themselves in familiar territory.

The first overtime came and went without either side challenging for a goal, but the Cyclones found more opportunities in the second overtime, getting off four shots as they boosted their total from 17 to 21.

21 shots and 110 minutes were not enough as the game once again ended in a draw.

“We played 110 minutes on Friday, [Drake] didn’t, so that had to a lot with it — just them having fresh legs,” Dillinger said. “The biggest thing is we have to finish. We can’t win games if we can’t finish.”