This season has been one of ups and downs for the Cyclones, but Iowa State got back on the winning track this weekend, winning one of its two games.

The first game was an afternoon match Friday against Texas Tech, who came into the game 3-3-1 in the conference, but the Cyclones kept it close despite the overtime goal by freshman Jessica Fuston that gave the Red Raiders the win.

Despite the loss, senior co-captain Jordan Bishop said the team still did some things well.

“They’re a fast-paced team, [and] they come at you with six or eight attackers, so with a pressure like that, being able to defend and also counter and get some good opportunities on the offensive side was good,” she said.

The game was back and forth after the seventh minute when Fuston scored the first goal of the game. The Cyclones answered back, however, first with a goal from freshman midfielder Caitlin Graboski, and then after another Fuston goal, Iowa State tied it back up with a goal from freshman midfielder Theresa Kucera.

“It started with a set piece. We played a short ball to Jordan Bishop who beat two defenders, opened up Caitlin [Graboski], gave Caitlin the ball, and Caitlin hit a great shot right over the keeper’s head,” said coach Wendy Dillinger on Graboski’s goal.

Kucera’s goal came off a set piece as well, coming of a corner kick, and last week the Cyclones changed up their practice routine in hopes to be more successful on those.

“Instead of doing our normal fitness and strength training, we did a little extra practice in the morning last week and worked on our set pieces, which I think paid off,” Dillinger said. “Every corner kick is a goal-scoring opportunity, and we’ve had 90-something and just haven’t finished any of them.”

Playing a back-and-forth game like the Cyclones did on Friday is something they’ve done several times this year, and is a rigorous thing to go through.

“It sucks, it’s like ping pong,” said the freshman midfielder Kucera. “That game it was just really back and forth, but we did well and we deserved to win if we didn’t tie.”

The success the Cyclones had in the box, however, was another thing that they improved on from recent weeks despite the loss.

“We get a lot of opportunities,we just don’t capitalize on them,” Kucera said. “We work it up the field through the defense to the [midfielders] and then to the forwards. Our first touches we’ve been working on those, and we just need to have a good first touch and put it away.”

Fuston was the difference-maker for the Red Raiders, scoring the hat trick and causing the Cyclones the trouble they thought she would, but Bishop said she may have caught a break or two.

“Two of the goals were within 6 yards from the goal line, so she didn’t have to do much; she’s just in the right place in the right time, so I guess it was just unlucky for us,” Bishop said.

After losing seven conference games in a row, the Cyclones finally got back on the winning track Sunday, defeating Baylor 1-0.

The win didn’t come easy for the Cyclones, though, as flight troubles caused them to improvise their transportation to Waco, Texas, for the Sunday game.

“We got to the airport at about 9:45 or 10 Saturday morning with a scheduled departure of about 11:30, and ended up sitting in the airport for six hours and finally got a good answer out of American [Airlines] that that flight wasn’t going to go,” Dillinger said.

The team rented five vehicles and drove the seven-hour drive from Lubbock to Dallas, arriving at their hotel at 2 in the morning. But like the other struggles the Cyclones have had to face this season with the flood and not having a field for a month, Dillinger saw a positive side to it.

“It was good team bonding time for the players, and everybody in all the cars had a great time and had a lot of fun, which was good after that loss to Texas Tech to kind of relax, have some fun and get focused for Sunday,” Dillinger said.

Freshman midfielder Emily Goldstein scored the lone goal against Baylor to snap the seven-game losing streak.

“We should have scored a lot in the first half and we controlled the game, but we just couldn’t finish, so [Brittany Morgan] got it, she headed it back to [Jennifer Dominguez], Jen crossed it, and when she crossed it I was like, ‘I’m scoring this or I’m getting off the field,’ so I just headed it in back post and it was a really good feeling,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein also said the win was much needed and they were able to do so by putting everything together.

“We’ve just been so close in all these games, and it’s been overtime when we’ve lost and we’ve checked out for five minutes, so it finally felt good to put a whole game together and win,” Goldstein said.

On the defensive end, Bishop said playing more positive was key.

“When we had the ball we were pressing with our outside back to try to get more people in, so we were playing a lot more attacking role from the back. [For] our outside backs, [Mary Kate McLaughlin] did great on working the players and clearing up any bad touches that they had and tackling hard,” Bishop said.

She also noted that the win will be something the underclassmen can use to their advantage in the years to come.

“I think it’s just a booster knowing that we can win the games that we’re in, and we’ve been in every single game but maybe one this year, but we just haven’t clinched that final step, and doing it against Baylor just shows that going into next year for all of these freshmen and sophomores and juniors know that winning can happen,” Bishop said.

Friday is senior night at the ISU Soccer Complex, and the Cyclones will take on Missouri at 6:30 p.m. for their final game of the season.