ISU coach Wendy Dillinger has been high on her team’s defensive discipline and offensive attack so far this season.

Both aspects of the ISU soccer game will likely need to be running on all cylinders Friday against in-state rival Iowa.

Coming off a win against Pacific, Iowa enters the matchup against Iowa State with 20 consecutive nonconference wins. The Cyclones account for two of those wins for the Hawkeyes.

“They are very aggressive at the whistle and they come right at us,” Dillinger said of the Hawkeyes. “Defensively we have to be solid, be confident and try to prevent the early goal, which we have given up every year we have played them.”

The Cyclones hope to reverse that trend with a more solid and younger defense this year. The team has only allowed three goals this season with the help of senior goalkeeper Maddie Jobe.

However, all three goals have come off set-pieces, including the game-winning goal off a corner kick to Minnesota. But the challenge to keep the Hawkeyes off the board is one both Jobe and Dillinger are confident about.

“I can say I’m more confident with this defense than I have with any of the past [defenses],” Jobe said.

The Hawkeyes also field a stout defense. Iowa goalkeeper Hannah Clark earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after forcing two shutouts with six saves.

The Iowa defense has allowed only one goal all season, but the Cyclones hope to change that statistic this Friday. 

“We have to get a hungrier mindset when it comes to scoring goals,” said senior forward Jennifer Dominguez. “I think we are still very confident and positive.”

The matchup between the in-state rivals will be the first of the 2013-14 season, kicking off the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. The winner will receive points towards its school’s total to crown the state’s champion.

The Cyclones will be playing for their first win against the Hawkeyes since a 2-1 win in the 2005-06 season.

“I think there is always a heightened intensity and urgency when we play Iowa because of the rivalry,” Dillinger said. “We’re not overemphasizing that with the team.

“We are just approaching it like it’s another game.”