The stadium lights illuminated the drizzling rain that kept the fans underneath their umbrellas and ponchos and the grass slippery on Friday night.

The rain ended up helping the Cyclones break their four-game scoreless streak in a matter of eight minutes, sparking a 2-1 ISU victory.

In the eighth minute, the Cyclones got a chance on goal with a free kick off the foot of senior defender Lauren Fader, Oklahoma State’s goalies had trouble keeping control of it inside the six yard line and sophomore midfielder Mary Kate McLaughlin tapped it in to put the Cyclones up 1-0.

“It was huge. We were hungry, especially coming into this game,” McLaughlin said. “This is a huge win for us and we knew we needed a win. We just shook off whatever happened the last two weekends and got it done today.”

The Cowgirls got their first opportunity with 22 minutes left in the first half but senior goalkeeper Ann Gleason made a diving, one-handed save, forcing the Cowgirls to take a corner, which they couldn’t convert.

With 13:42 left in the first half, Oklahoma State evened the score at 1-1 when junior midfielder Annika Niemeier crossed one into the box for senior forward Kasey Langdon who promptly deposited it in the top corner of the goal.

The first handed half ended at 1-1. The Cyclones held a 5-4. shots on goals advantage.

Six minutes into the second half, freshman midfielder Amanda Woelfel launched a cross into the box off a free kick, and the ball ended up sailing into the net untouched, giving the Cyclones a 2-1 lead and Woelfel her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

At the thirty minute mark in the second half, the Cowgirls got a breakaway when senior midfielder Elise Reid slipped trying to defend the pass, allowing Langdon to get a one-on-one shot with Gleason. The shot slipped off of Gleason’s fingertips and appeared goal bound until sophomore defender Emily Hejlik got between Gleason an the goal and cleared it out of bounds.

“It was awesome,” Gleason said. “She was in the right spot at the right time. It was perfect; exactly what she needed to do. She was in perfect position. That was a great job for her to come in and do that. They have my back and I know that.”

The Cowgirls continued to put pressure on the Cyclones in the second half, but Iowa State wouldn’t let up as they made numerous clears out of the Cowgirl attempts in the box.

The Cyclones were able to avoid another OSU goal at the 5:10 mark, but senior midfielder Siera Strawser had her goal called back with an offsides call. The shot came off a Cowgirl corner kick.

The Cowgirls had another chance on a free kick with 39 seconds remaining in the game, but the ISU defense kept the ball out of the goal again to hang on for the victory.

Coach Wendy Dillinger credits her team’s group effort on defense for shutting down one of the Cowgirls more dangerous players in the forward Langdon.

“We did ok. Six in the box is very dangerous for them; they have a lot of good players, but she’s special,”Dillinger said. “I think we did a good job in the second half of shutting her down, but it took two or three players at a time to cut her out of the game.”

Another area of improvement for the Cyclones was their set pieces, which accounted for both of their goals.

“We battled, challenged; every ball we played on a set piece was dangerous tonight and thats what we’ve been working on all week,” Dillinger said. “Just make them dangerous and give us a chance to put it in the net and thats what we did.”