It was a night of firsts Friday at the ISU Soccer Complex.

It was the Cyclones’ first-ever home night game, complete with temporary lighting. Iowa State is planning to install permanent lights next season.

And freshman midfielder Erin McDowell tallied the first goal of her ISU career as the Cyclones (3-4-3, 0-2-1 Big 12) earned a 2-2 tie with Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma (6-3-2, 1-1-1 Big 12) before a season-high crowd of 377.

“I’m grateful to the large crowd that came out to support us tonight,” said head coach Rebecca Hornbacher.

The first half of the match was scoreless, but both teams had their share of chances. In that first half, Iowa State outshot Oklahoma 10-8, and the Cyclones had four saves to three for the Sooners.

Oklahoma got the scoring going at in the 56th minute of the second half when Jessica Talton scored unassisted to make it 1-0. Iowa State came back to tie the score at 1-1 at in the 60th minute on Erin McDowell’s first goal of the season.

“Christine Beatty helped set the goal up — she had a corner kick,” McDowell said.

“I just ran in there and saw it coming for the post, and I just got a head on it and it went into the net.”

Hornbacher said McDowell is a “feisty warrior.”

“[She’s] a tough-nosed player who will tackle and battle,” Hornbacher said. “She’s going to scrap for the ball — I sure wouldn’t want to go against her.”

Iowa State went up 2-1 on Kate Kirwan’s fourth goal of the season.

“I came into the box and McDowell was there and the ball bounced off her,” Kirwan said. “I was thankful to be there to clean it up and get the goal.”

Hornbacher said she was proud of Kirwan’s play.

“She was at the right place at the right time,” Hornbacher said.

The Cyclones held the lead until the 78th minute, when Heidi Martinson scored for the Sooners, assisted by Logan Womack.

Iowa State again outshot Oklahoma, this time 12-6. The Sooners made five saves to ISU goalkeeper Beth Chapman’s three.

Neither team scored in overtime, but the Cyclones did have several chances. McDowell nearly got the golden goal in the 94th minute, and Kirwan and Deb Benakis all got shots later on before the final horn blew.

Hornbacher said she was pleased with the Cyclones’ performance.

“They competed for 110 minutes, and they battled back,” she said. “Oklahoma has a good team and are a top-25 program. We had a good week in practice and needed to raise the bar to the next level, and our players did just that tonight.”

Iowa State outshot Oklahoma 27-17 for the match. Sooner goalkeeper Catherine Wade had 12 saves to Cyclone Beth Chapman’s eight.

“It would have been nice to get the win instead of the tie. But we played well physically all over the field, and we were very organized and determined to make our plays,” Hornbacher said.