The first two Big 12 Conference games the ISU women’s soccer team played were against ranked teams on the road. Both matches ended in defeat.

This weekend, the Cyclones will stay in Iowa as they host No. 24 Oklahoma on Friday and take the road on Sunday to face in-state rival Drake in Des Moines.

Head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said the team, which is 3-4-2 overall, is looking forward to the two games and hopes Cyclone fans support the team.

“With Drake on Sunday, it’s definitely in-state rivalry,” Hornbacher said.

“We’re excited to play in Des Moines at the soccer complex [and are] hoping to get a lot of people there to support us. Being in Iowa for two games is a nice change for us.”

Drake head coach Corbin Stone hopes to see a lot of in-state fans on Sunday.

“We like to see fans from both Iowa State and Drake for the game,” Stone said. “I am expecting a tough game.”

Hornbacher said the team has to focus on themselves to improve during the rest of the season.

“[We had] two tough losses against two ranked teams last weekend,” Hornbacher said. “What we need to do is focus on our team and raising the standard every time we step on the field.

“The girls responded very well, came back and had excellent training sessions this week. Their focus is there. We know that the Big 12 has a lot of parity and any team can win on any given day.”

Redshirt freshman forward Kate Kirwan said the team is looking forward to Friday’s contest.

“We had a good week of practice,” Kirwan said. “We had a chance to play against a team that came off a big win. We’re in a pretty tough conference. We just have to take one game at a time.”

Hornbacher said in the Nebraska contest, which Iowa State lost 5-1, the team played more physically than in previous years.

“Nebraska is a very strong program. They show why they’re a NCAA team [and are] consistently a powerhouse,” Hornbacher said. “This year, we competed and we battled physically with Nebraska. In the past years, I would like to say that was physically not to the level where their play was [this year].”

Hornbacher also said the ISU defense didn’t clear the ball out of the Cornhuskers’ offensive zone.

“What happened in the course of the game was that we allowed some opportunities for them to get balls into our 18-yard box,” Hornbacher said. “We didn’t take care of denying the services from the flanks and we didn’t clear the ball out cleanly … We weren’t as sharp as we typically are defensively.”

Against Colorado, junior defender Erin Weldon received two yellow cards and was ejected from the game. She will not play in the Oklahoma game on Friday.

“We were still down and created a lot of opportunities,” Hornbacher said. “Erin played extremely hard.

“She did exactly what we asked her to do which was being physical, getting her tackles in. She didn’t have fouls that were dirty fouls.”

ISU takes on an Oklahoma team that defeated No. 16 Texas 2-1 on Sunday. The Sooners are 6-3-1 overall and 1-1-0 in conference play.

Sunday’s contest will be the first between Iowa State and Drake. Stone said he expects the Cyclones to come out for a victory.

“Rebecca will get them prepared,” Stone said. “They’re very well disciplined and very goal-oriented. They will pose some different challenges for us.”

The Cyclones will take on Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Friday at the ISU Soccer Complex and travel to Des Moines to face Drake at 1 p.m. Sunday at James W. Cownie Soccer Park.