Overlooked in the Big 12 at the beginning of the season, the ISU women’s soccer team now has everyone’s attention.

With a 2-0 win over Nebraska, the Cyclones (11-5-3, 6-3-1 Big 12) locked in a school record second-place finish in the conference, also scoring the third seed in the Big 12 Tournament.

Friday night’s win over the No. 22 ranked Cornhuskers was the first ever against Nebraska in the 10-year history of the soccer program. Also, in the past nine years, Iowa State was 2-24-1 against ranked opponents. This year, they are 2-0.

It has been a historical season for coach Rebecca Hornbacher and the Cyclones, but it began by being predicted to finish ninth in the Big 12 in the preseason coaches’ poll.

Now heading into post-season, the team has already exceeded other people’s expectations, but not their own.

“I am so proud of our kids and I feel we have just put ourselves in a perfect position for an at-large NCAA [Tournament] bid,” Hornbacher said.

“Our focus right now is to go down to San Antonio and fight for a Big 12 Tournament title.”

Iowa State will play Texas in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in San Antonio on Wednesday night.

The Longhorns handed the Cyclones their last loss two weeks ago, a 2-1 setback in Ames.

Ever since that game, Iowa State has been dominant, outscoring their last three opponents 9-1. On Friday night, they recorded their second straight shutout, holding up against a steady Cornhusker attack.

The Cyclones took 11 shots total, five on goal, and scored twice, as Renee de St. Aubin scored five-and-a-half minutes into the game off of the rebound from her own penalty kick.

After carrying the lead into halftime, Kristina Baumann made the game more comfortable, heading in a corner kick from Jess Villhauer six minutes after the break.

The Cornhuskers did their part, taking 26 total shots, but couldn’t make it past sophomore goalkeeper Joanna Haig.

In the team’s previous nine games against Nebraska, Iowa State was outscored 44-5.

“Joanna was unbelievable in the net again, and our defense continued to come up with big time stops,” Hornbacher said.

Haig’s seven shutouts this year are the most in a season in Cyclone history.

“Our team has so much confidence right now,” Haig said. “We took the momentum from last weekend’s wins and carried it over to today’s match. Our team played amazing.”

Iowa State went from a tie for first, to a tie for seventh, to tie second place in the conference the final weeks of the season.

“For us to be able to compete for a regular season championship shows how far we’ve come in such a short period of time,” Hornbacher said.

– ISU Media Relations contributed to this article.