The ISU women’s soccer team is hungry for another conference win, but will first have to get by two tough defensive teams this weekend.

Iowa State takes the field with No. 5 Texas A&M at 7 p.m. in College Station, Texas. The Aggies are 10-1-2 overall and have won their last 23 games played at the Aggie Soccer Complex.

The Cyclones (4-6-3) broke the previously unbeaten record of Oklahoma State on Sunday, which gave the ISU team its first conference win of the season.

Redshirt freshman Kate Kirwan led the offensive attack in the match with two goals and one assist. Kirwan leads the Cyclones with six goals and three assists on the season. Transfer Alli Coleman also contributed with her first goal as a Cyclone during the match.

ISU head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said the team prepares for physical battles in the Big 12. Hornbacher added the Cyclones maintained their focus throughout the tough game against Oklahoma State.

“The [team] really battled together and left it all on the field,” Hornbacher said. “We got contributions from a lot of players.”

Kirwan said the team needs a win Friday in order to get the confidence they need for the Texas game Sunday and the rest of the season.

Coleman said she is confident going into the weekend’s games.

“It’s just a couple more we have to take care of and get ourselves up in the rankings,” Coleman said.

The Cyclones will take on one of the toughest defenses in the Big 12 Friday. The Aggies, who have allowed only five goals this year, captured their eighth shutout of the season against Baylor Sunday.

“We scored 11 goals this weekend and did not allow a goal,” said Texas A&M head coach G. Guerrieri. “The players did a great job of accepting the challenge that the coaching staff gave to them.”

The Cyclones take on another tough defense at 1 p.m. Sunday when they go head-to-head with Texas at the ISU Soccer Complex. The Longhorns (8-6) shut out Texas Tech Sunday, 7-0, and have tallied six shutouts this season.

“We are playing well right now,” Texas head coach Chris Petrucelli said. “Our defense is shutting down the opposition and our offense is dangerous. It’s the perfect time of year for all of the elements of our team to be coming together.”

Hornbacher said she respects the competition in the Big 12 and recognizes that during this time of the season everything counts.

“On any given day any team can win right now,” Hornbacher said. “Its a matter of us coming out and taking care of the controllables. We want to go out there and play our style of soccer and take control of what we can take control of.”