Iowa State continues its Big 12 season with a pair of road games, Friday in Nebraska against the Cornhuskers (9-4-0, 2-1-0) and Sunday in Colorado against the Buffaloes (5-6-1, 1-2-1).

The Cyclones will head into Nebraska on a two-game losing skid, but hope to take what they learned against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to help them return to Ames after the weekend with a pair of conference wins.

“Just keeping high pressure, keep winning balls in the air, [and] keep winning every 50-50,” said senior co-captain Jordan Bishop. “I think the only thing that we really, really need to do is execute and finish, and we’re ready to do that.”

Missed opportunities plagued the Cyclones against Oklahoma State on Sunday, and the Cornhuskers could be just as tough as the Cowgirls.

“We just need to finish the chances when we get them,” said freshman midfielder Emily Goldstein. “That’s what separates a great team and a good team is that a great team can finish it, while a good team is almost there, and this game we need to be a great team.”

One player that has been trouble to nearly every team she’s played is Nebraska’s sophomore forward Morgan Marlborough, who leads the Big 12 with 12 goals and 29 points this season.

“You just have to defend her like she’s any other player,” Goldstein said. “You just have to frustrate her and make sure you get her out of her game and out of her mental state and do anything you can to make sure she doesn’t get past you.”

Iowa State took an interesting approach at preparing for Marlborough this week that other teams haven’t done.

“We have [assistant] Ben [Madsen] play up top. He’s tall, fast, strong and he’s playing against our backs right now and, we’re pretending like Ben is Morgan,” said coach Wendy Dillinger.

Madsen is an assistant coach for the Cyclones and was a three-year starter at goalkeeper for Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee.

Nebraska sophomore forward Jordan Jackson could also pose a threat to the Cyclone defense as well.

“Jordan Jackson just works her tail off and she’s all over the place and the biggest thing for us is that we stay tight, we track them, and the big thing is we can’t let them turn,” Dillinger said.

Iowa State will finish off the weekend against Colorado on Sunday afternoon, and the Cyclones may have a tough time scoring goals against the Buffaloes’ keeper.

Freshman Annie Brunner has four shutouts this season for Colorado and is top-10 in the Big 12 in both saves and save percentage.

“First we need to get balls into their 18 [yard box], get the ball across the face of the goal, see if we can get some crosses in and finish off crosses,” Bishop said.

Goldstein added that shooting will be a big factor.

“We just need to make sure we’re shooting, we’re shooting on frame, we’re shooting well and we’re shooting hard,” Goldstein said.

With how well Brunner has done in net, junior defender and co-captain Mary Kate McLaughlin said the defense plans to relieve some of the defensive pressure off the attackers so they can focus on scoring.

“As a defensive unit we are looking to give our offense as much confidence as possible going forward in the attack,” McLaughlin said. “We would like to close the space that they have to defend so they have to worry about less and just stay tight, move as a unit, and communicate a lot.”

After losing the two conference games last weekend, the Cyclones believe a successful weekend on the road could be a big turning point in their season.

“There have been many comments of how we should finish low in the Big 12 and how we’re one of the weaker teams in the Big 12, and that just serves as motivation for us as we’d love to take advantage of an opportunity like this and put a game away like Nebraska and Colorado as well,” McLaughlin said.

Senior keeper Ashley Costanzo, who was expected to be available to play last weekend, re-injured her knee Sept. 30 and will be out for another two weeks.

“It’s going to take her some time for her knee to settle down again to get to the point where we can actually start working with her running,” Dillinger said.

The first game is Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Lincoln, Neb.

Sunday’s first kick is 2 p.m. in Boulder, Colo.