Coming off a scoreless, double-overtime draw with Iowa, the ISU soccer team is looking to rebound this weekend as it travels to Minneapolis to play in the Gopher Invitational.

The trip puts them up against Montana (1-3 overall) on Friday afternoon and Dayton (3-1) on Sunday – two teams the Cyclones (2-0-1) have never faced.

“Both teams are quality teams; it’s going to be a battle,” said coach Rebecca Hornbacher.

“We do the scouting reports and prepare our team with the information, but ultimately what it comes down to is us taking care of the things that we focus on with practice.

“Because they’re from different conferences, it’s not something continuous, and they might look different against other teams. We just really go with the scouting report of what we have and try to focus on the things that we have done in practice to exploit them.”

Hornbacher said her team’s performance against Iowa was a good effort, but there were multiple opportunities to finish the Hawkeyes.

“We had quite a few chances in Iowa that we should have put away and ended the game and we didn’t,” she said. “Both in regulation and in overtime we need to be able to do that because sometimes we’re not going to get as many chances as we have been getting in games.”

Hornbacher said the Cyclones need to “put it away” when they have the opportunity.

“Having that scoreless draw just left a bad taste in our mouths because I feel that we came on very strong and we had some opportunities late in the game and we just weren’t able to finish it,” she said.

Sophomore goalkeeper Ann Gleason recorded her first shutout of the season in that game, making her the fourth in ISU history with four career shutouts.

“It was a little disappointing that we didn’t sneak one away in the second overtime,” Gleason said, “but still we played very hard and it felt good to get a shutout.”

Despite having trouble scoring against Iowa, the Cyclones are on pace to nearly double their goal production from last year. As an offense last year, Iowa State averaged only 0.92 goals per 90 minutes. This year, they are off to a faster start, averaging 1.86 per 90.

Sophomore Elise Reid, who netted her first two goals as a Cyclone in the 4-1 win over Northern Iowa last Friday, said she thinks the offense is clicking more this year than last.

“Last year [the offense] was kind of stationary, and this year they’re doing a lot better job of always moving, getting open and coming back to the ball – they’re more active,” she said.

Now one of seven remaining undefeated teams in the Big 12, Reid said the team is motivated by the fact that they were picked to finish last in the Big 12 in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

“I think it’s always best to be the underdog so you get to prove to people and get to surprise people,” she said. “You have a lot more to work for.”