Iowa State took on Northern Iowa in the Panthers’ season opener Sunday afternoon in Cedar Falls, and it was a heated battle in every sense of the word.

It was 87 degrees with the sun bearing down for the game and it looked as if the heat would be an added obstacle for both teams.

Iowa State (1-0-1) outshot Northern Iowa (0-1-0) 8-3 in the first half and both teams played solid defensively to preserve the 0-0 tie and head into halftime scoreless. 

Senior goalkeeper Ashley Costanzo played a stout first half, contributing three saves and keeping the team focused by being vocal.

The game started heating up in the second half as the Cyclones came out firing and started off the half with a surge.

“Coach [Wendy Dillinger] definitely inspired us at halftime, and we kind of refocused what we were doing, stepped it up, realized what we needed to do, and brought a whole new approach to the attack,” said junior captain Mary Kate McLaughlin. “Everyone did a great job.”

The first goal came from the foot of ISU freshman midfielder Emily Goldstein in the 72nd minute when she collected a cross pass in front of the net from fellow freshman Meredith Skitt and put it in off the bounce.

“We weren’t playing the way we knew we could play,” said Goldstein of the Cyclones’ first half. “We were playing down to a level we shouldn’t really play at, so once we finally realized we were better than them, we picked our heads up and started playing like we normally do, and then we got the results we wanted.”

Iowa State’s momentum surge was dampened when, three minutes later, a penalty kick was awarded to Northern Iowa and UNI senior captain Chelsie Hochstedler kicked the ball inside the top right corner of the net past freshman keeper Maddie Jobe for the equalizer.

“Maddie did a good job trying to get to it, but just the call in general we were pretty upset about,” McLaughlin said.

Iowa State continued to stay focused and answered back with a few shots, one of which being a free kick by Goldstein, but couldn’t find a way to break the tie again.

Just moments later in the 80th minute, Goldstein was involved in another influential play, teaming up with McLaughlin for a goal.

“She played a perfect ball across the six[-meter line] and I just happened to be there,” McLaughlin said on Goldstein’s assist. “I missed it last game, so I had a little bit of fire under my butt to finish today.”

To close out the game, freshman midfielder Theresa Kucera followed a deflected shot from senior midfielder Jordan Bishop, and Kucera shot the ball and banked it in off the crossbar to give Iowa State the 3-1 lead in the 85th minute.

Iowa State’s three goals all came within 13 minutes of each other, and the Cyclones outshot the Panthers 12-2 in the second half and 20-5 on the game.

Iowa State’s defense has played a big part the past two games, shutting out Drake in game one and giving up just one goal on a penalty kick to Northern Iowa.

“It all starts with the defense and works up to the offense,” Kucera said.

Jobe played a solid second half for the Cyclones and combined with Costanzo’s first-half effort and tight defense from an experienced unit, Iowa State walked away confident. 

“We have three juniors playing in the back for us in Mary Kate, Emily Hejlik and Amanda Mayberry,” Dillinger said. “They have good chemistry and they understand what it takes defensively.”

Both teams were scoreless on corner and free kicks, and Iowa State’s Erin Green received the game’s only yellow card.

The Cyclones improved to 7-0 all-time against Northern Iowa and will now travel to Montana to take on Nevada and Montana in the University of Montana Tournament. They will not have another home game until Sept. 17. The ISU Soccer Complex should be back to playable condition by then, and Iowa State will take on Iowa in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series.

 

Shots First Half: Iowa State–8, UNI–3

Shots Second Half: Iowa State–12, UNI–2

Shots Total: Iowa State–20, UNI–5

 

Goals First Half: Iowa State–0, UNI–0

Goals Second Half: Iowa State–3, UNI–1

Goals Total: Iowa State–3, UNI–1

 

Scoring Summary:

72nd minute–ISU-Scored by Emily Goldstein, assisted by Meredith Skitt

75th minute–UNI-Scored by Chelsie Hochstedler on penalty kick

80th minute–ISU-Scored by Mary Kate McLaughlin, assisted by Emily Goldstein

85th minute–ISU-Scored by Theresa Kucera, unassisted

Cards: Yellow to ISU’s Erin Green