No. 16 Virginia Tech was only able to score one goal against Iowa State to solidify the first Cyclone loss of the season Sunday, Aug. 26.

Iowa State (3-1) traveled to Lincoln, Neb., on Friday to battle against New Mexico and Virginia Tech in what ended as high expectations in maintaining good play when it competes in the Big 12 Conference.

With a late six-minute thriller goal from junior midfield/defender Meredith Skitt, the Cyclones were able to win 1-0 against the two-time defending Mountain West Conference-champion Lobos.

Although the Cyclones came out on top of the match, coach Wendy Dillinger believes the girls did not play to the best of their ability and potential.

“We did not have a great showing Friday,” Dillinger said. “We snuck out with a win, but it definitely was not our best performance.”

Junior forward Brittany Morgan agreed they did not play up to the standards of where they have worked to put themselves in prepping for competition.

“We didn’t have as tight of competition in our first couple games, which caused a bit of a slow start Friday,” Morgan said. “However, we are doing a good job at overcoming diversity of playing style on the team, and we can only move forward now.”

Dillinger knew the challenges that needed to be brought forth in Saturday’s practice in order to maintain the ability to have adequate dynamics to compete against a top-rated team the following day.

Scoring nearly 26 minutes into the match, Shannon Mayrose was able to carry Virginia Tech to a 1-0 victory Sunday, handing the Cyclones their first loss of the 2012 season. 

Being scoreless on the offensive side, the match became the first game since Oct. 9, 2011, that the Cyclones remained scoreless in a match.

Even with the fall to Virginia Tech, Dillinger believes there were several essential chances to beat the Hokies.

“We had a game plan heading into Sunday, and we knew if they stretched us out, the game could get ugly,” Dillinger said. “However, we stuck with our plan, and the scored goal was a bit unfortunate due to some miscues.”

Morgan was pleased with the acknowledgment of knowing the team could compete evenly with top ranked teams like Virginia Tech.

“I think we came out Sunday, and we showed a lot of fire,” Morgan said.  “We showed that we can hang with the top-20 in the country and just really how high our work rate is.”

Playing 90 minutes in both games this weekend, junior goalkeeper Maddie Jobe is excited about what the 2012 season will bring for the Cyclones.

“The Big 12 tournament is always on my mind because I want to win that,” Jobe said. “I want to go to play at San Antonio and eventually go to the NCAA tournament. We have to do well in conference play and take it one game at a time. Every win counts.”

The Cyclones will next host in-state rival Iowa in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series this Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be played behind the Lied Recreation Athletic Center in Ames.