Chris Cuellar – Daily Correspondent

The ISU soccer team finally got back on the winning track on a windy Friday evening, with a 1-0 home victory over Illinois State, the team’s first win since Sept. 19.

The lone goal of the game was an Adrianna O’Neill touch off a cross from freshman midfield Laura Wooster in the thirtieth minute of the game. Wooster raced down the right side of the field and found a leaping O’Neill in place in front of the Redbird defense, and O’Neill put it away.

Iowa State had other chances at the goal, including a breakaway by sophomore Jordan Bishop in the eighteenth minute, which gave her two shots at goal against two defenders, but couldn’t capitalize.

“I was obviously frustrated at not putting the goal away; it was one-on-one, with me and the keeper for the first shot, but I just really need to put those away,” Bishop said.

Fortunately for the Cyclones, the defense played a strong game, and when backup goalkeeper Ashley Costanzo came into the game for the second half, the Redbirds still couldn’t find an equalizer.

The 1-0 lead after the half was enough for Costanzo to hold onto, catching high cross passes and preventing all five of the Redbirds’ second half shots from finding the net.

“My team was really confident in front of me, and helped step up to the challenge in the second half,” Costanzo said.

The sophomore goalkeeper has seen action in only two other games this season, but with Texas A&M looming over Sunday, and a strong wind at the Cyclones’ backs for the second half, starter Ann Gleason took a seat. Costanzo faced a few strong shots from Illinois State, including a rocket from inside the box off a corner kick, which she dived to grab before it hit the top corner.

“That last save was a big one,” Costanzo said. “Everyone on the bench was going crazy, and it pumped me up for the rest of the game.” 

Outshooting Illinois State by a slim margin 14-13, Iowa State put enough shots on goal in the second half to keep the pressure on the opposite side of the field.

“The wind made it really hard to judge the ball in the first half, but by the second half I was able to adjust and make the long passes work,” Bishop said.

Iowa State played a tough, grind-it-out game Friday, but will need to work even harder to form any semblance of a winning streak, with No. 7 Texas A&M waiting for the Cyclones to visit, 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

“We’re definitely ready for Texas A&M,” Bishop said. “We seem to play better against strong teams, and they probably aren’t expecting much out of us. This is the chance to prove ourselves.”