The scoreboard at the ISU Soccer Complex resembled a teeter-totter as the Cyclones battled Missouri Friday for a trip to the Big 12 Tournament.

The Cyclones led two times during the match, but fell to the Tigers 4-3. Iowa State came out with two quick goals in the first 10 minutes of play, but the Tigers replied with two goals of their own in the last seven minutes to steal the lead.

“Obviously, I’m very disappointed,” head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said after taking a moment with her team. “We were trying to solidify a spot in the Big 12 Tournament, and I felt like we really did a good job at creating a lot of chances today, but we got lackadaisical defensively after we got up twice, and it cost us the game.”

Less than two minutes into the game, during their first trip down the field on offense, the Cyclones captured the lead. On a pass from Jess Villhauer, Kate Kirwan launched a shot into the upper left corner of the net.

Only six minutes later, the Cyclones were on the offensive attack again. After Missouri goalkeeper Megan Duncan blocked a shot from Erin McDonald, Villhauer took a crack at it, but was unsuccessful. Kirwan immediately took the deflected shot and put it into the net to put the Cyclones up 2-0.

“We just came out strong the first 10 minutes,” Kirwan said. “Jess Villhauer set [the shots] up perfectly; all I had to do was finish them.”

The Cyclones spent most of their time on defense for the remainder of the half. One minute after Kirwan’s second goal, Missouri’s Elyse Nikonchuck put one past ISU goalkeeper Beth Chapman.

With only one minute of play left in the first half, there was a battle just outside the Missouri goal box that ultimately ended with a slow roller into the net. Margaret Malm had put one past the unorganized Cyclone defense to tie the game at 2-2.

Following the break, the Cyclone offense created more opportunities than they had in the first half.

With ten minutes of play left, Kristina Baumann attacked the end line and fed the ball to Amy Flores, who scored to give the Cyclones a 3-2 lead.

“I saw [Baumann] taking the end line and I knew she was going to cross it, so I knew I had better get there,” Flores said. “It was a great ball. If I would have missed that shot, there would have been no hope.”

The Tigers came back to tie the score after scoring on a penalty kick. Nikonchuck used her free shot to punch one into the upper right corner following a foul committed by Iowa State’s Meghan Schlenker.

Only two minutes later, Chapman made a vital save when she blocked a shot by Missy Peabody. But the Tiger attack was not over. Adriene Davis quickly put one past Chapman only seconds later.

“We knew they were a tough team that could [come back],” Hornbacher said. “[Missouri] came from behind against the No. 5 team in the country when they were down 1-4, and they came back and beat them. I told the [girls] we had to play 90 minutes, but unfortunately we had some times that we had lapses and it cost us the game.”