The Iowa State women’s soccer team finds itself with a 3-5 record heading into weekend where they’re going up against a tough Memphis Tigers team, with conference play being right around the corner.

Can the attack produce in Memphis?

The Cyclones find themselves with a 3-5 record so far in the season and netting six goals through their first eight games.

The Cyclone attack has shown some real potential at some points in the season and struggled at other points in the season. They have the potential to fire off upwards of 26 shots, which they did against Omaha, or getting very few opportunities, such as only eight shots against Saint Louis or their season low of three shots against UCLA.

Memphis, on the other hand, is a whole different beast. The Tigers have only allowed one goal at home so far in their season, which sees them at a 7-1 record. Besides that, they’ve only allowed two other goals in the season and have outscored teams a total of 24-3 in the regular season.

It’s going to be a big test for the young Cyclone squad, especially when the Tigers have remained undefeated at home.

“I think what we need to do is stay organized defensively, continue to connect and finding the width and getting our wings involved in the attack with Courtney [Powell] and Abbey Van Wyngarden, especially Claudia [Najera] when she gets in, is going to be key for us,” said coach Tony Minatta.

Minatta also mentions that having freshman Mira Emma playing more underneath the forwards is important because it gives her the space and the ability to create shots.

Fixing the issue of closing out games

The energy level of the Cyclones has been in question from the beginning of the season and to the Cyclones credit, things have been looking up. But there’s one more big issue that’s been plaguing the Cyclones: closing out their games.

The Cyclones have been on the end of some heartbreakers, the biggest example coming after the Cyclones let in a goal right after tying the game against Iowa, losing in the final few minutes against Creighton or losing in overtime against Saint Louis.

One thing that reared its head into view in most of those games have been letting in late game goals.

In the game against Creighton, a pass back to junior goalkeeper Dayja Schwichtenberg inside the 18-yard box ultimately led to the 88th minute game winning goal for Creighton. Even recently in the win over SIUE, the Cougars scored an 89th minute goal from a corner kick that sent the game into overtime.

Minatta mentions how the last overtime win the team had prior to the overtime win against SIUE was against Baylor back in the 2016 season and that in the following 15 overtimes they’ve appeared in since, the SIUE game has been the only win.

“The last 15 overtime games we’ve been in, we haven’t gotten the results that we wanted,” Emma said. “It’s good to kind of break through that door and get an overtime win.”

With a team like Memphis, being able to limit its attack late in the game, especially since Memphis has been no stranger to find the back of the net, may prove to be the biggest factor if the Cyclones plan on walking out of Memphis with a win.