Iowa State dropped its second straight conference game Sunday at the hands of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska (8-3, 2-0) used its three-goal first half to fend off the Cyclones (3-7, 0-2) by a score of 3-2.

The Huskers’ Brittany Timko recorded all three goals within three minutes of each other. Iowa State was outshot 9-1 in the first half.

The Cyclones fired back in the second half, outshooting Nebraska 12-4 and recording two goals.

Sophomore Kate Kirwan recorded the first goal for Iowa State at the 57:24 mark when junior Kristina Baumann beat the Husker defense and fed Kirwan the ball through the middle.

“I just put [the ball] away,” Kirwan said. “It was all of us, not just me. I was just in the right spot at the right time.”

Iowa State cut Nebraska’s lead to one when freshman Brittanie Waddell fired a bullet past Husker goalie Katie Wright at the 86:52 mark.

“We just had all been working so hard,” Waddell said. “I ended up with the ball and the goal, but everyone else was working just as hard as I was.”

With just three minutes left to play after Waddell’s goal, the Cyclones continued their offensive pressure.

They rolled off continuous shots but could not find the back of the net.

At the 88:00 mark, junior Deb Benakis was taken down in the goalie box and awarded a penalty shot.

Benakis’ beat the Nebraska keeper, but the shot deflected off the underside of the crossbar and bounced straight down.

The Huskers cleared the ball, and ended the Cyclones hopes for a comeback.

“We had all our confidence in Deb,” Waddell said.

“Sometimes they just don’t fall.”

ISU head coach Rebecca Hornbacher was pleased with her team’s efforts in the second half, but recognized that one half of strong play isn’t enough.

“We can’t sit back on our heels and wonder what’s going to come at us,” Hornbacher said of the Cyclones’ first half.

“We outshot them and out-fouled them; we dominated in the second half. Now we have to win the whole game.”

On Friday, the Cyclones dropped their conference opener against Colorado, losing 1-0.

Colorado’s Ashlie Mihalcin scored her fifth goal of the season at the 10:36 mark, and that was the only offense that the Buffaloes needed to ward off the Cyclones.

After the goal, the Cyclones were solid defensively, and allowed only one shot total in the second half.

“I think we’re doing a really good job right now,” freshman Beth Passman said of the Cyclone defense.

“We just had one letdown, but that’s all it takes.”

Offensively, Iowa State generated many chances on the net. The best chance of the game came with fewer than five minutes left in the second half, when Baumann drilled a shot right on target, but Colorado’s Jessica Keller made a diving catch.

The Cyclones outshot the Buffaloes 10-7 in the contest, and 5-1 in the second half, but could not get a goal for the third time this season.

“We just couldn’t get the right shot off at the right time,” freshman Erin Witte said. “Overall, I think we did good offensively, but just couldn’t get the right shot off.”

Witte said the Cyclones kept the ball for too long instead of shooting.

“Hopefully as we play more games and practice more, we can work on getting that one shot off faster.”