It was a perfect weekend in the Arizona heat for the ISU women’s soccer team.

The Cyclones captured the Arizona Invitational title as they defeated Big Sky Conference opponent Weber State 1-0 on Sunday and host Arizona 2-1 on Friday night.

Head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said the two wins are a great start for her team.

“It was a great beginning for us,” Hornbacher said. “It’s always nice to get those first couple of games out of the way after battling through two weeks of preseason.

“Their goal was to win the tournament and I am really happy with the outcome: Being able to come back home and have two wins under our belt and move forward.”

Flurry of shots leads to win over Weber State

Shots were definitely a factor in Sunday’s contest as Iowa State had 20 totals shots, 10 of them on goal. In the first half, the Cyclones out-shot the Weber State Wildcats 13-3.

“We had a lot of opportunities. We played different people around different spots to give them a look,” Hornbacher said. “Weber State did a good job defending, really playing a physical game, and trying to take us out of our game. We made some changes in the second half, tried to put a little bit more pressure on them.”

After a scoreless first half with Weber State, senior defender Arlene Samuel scored the lone goal at the 78th minute in the second half. Samuel and freshman midfielder Erin McDowell each had three shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Beth Chapman had two saves for her eighth career shutout.

Hornbacher said the team moved redshirt freshman midfielder Kate Kirwan up in the offensive attack.

“She’s definitely an attacking threat and well organized,” Hornbacher said. “It created some opportunities for us to create some more shots.

Samuel pulled through with a phenomenal set piece, Hornbacher said.

“Forty-five to 50 yards out, it was right on frame,” she said. “It was beautiful.”

Cyclones get physical against Arizona

It was a little bit more physical in Friday night’s game as Iowa State and Arizona combined for 43 fouls and seven yellow cards. Arizona outshot the Cyclones 13-7 overall as Chapman made six saves.

Hornbacher complimented the style of play from Arizona.

“Arizona was a very talented, very athletic and fast team,” Hornbacher said. “So they caused us some problems … they create a lot of opportunities and they actually outshot us for the game, but our defense weathered the storm. Beth Chapman came up with some phenomenal saves and really had a presence in goal. I feel that she was a difference-maker in the game.”

All three goals came in the first half. Sophomore forward Amy Flores, who was named offensive MVP for the invitational, got the Cyclones going as she scored on a scramble in the goal box from five yards out in the just 87 seconds into the contest. Kirwan assisted on the play.

Arizona answered back in the 26th minute as Candice Wilks scored off a penalty kick. Iowa State answered quickly in the 27th minute as Flores scored her second goal in the game — a header off a free kick. Samuel had the assist on the play.

Hornbacher said Flores is learning where she needs to be at each moment.

“She’s understanding the tactical concepts of the game so much better this year and is really making some tremendous runs,” Kirwan said. “She’s dynamite in the air. She’s hard to deal with and it was exciting to see her come on and play so strong in the season opener.”

Sophomore forward Kristina Baumann, who lead the Cyclones with seven goals last season, had a collision with the Arizona goalkeeper on Friday night and was out in Sunday’s game.

“She was feeling better physically,” Hornbacher said. “It was just too risky with her being sick to get out running in the heat. We’re trying to get her better and have her be ready to go against DePaul.”

The Cyclone team returned to Ames early Monday morning. Iowa State hosts DePaul on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the ISU Soccer Complex.