The ISU women’s soccer team is looking forward to playing at home this weekend after coming up short in their previous two matches against two opponents ranked in the top 10.

The Cyclones fell to 3-5-1 on the season and 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference with a 7-0 loss at No. 4 Texas on Sunday, and hope to turn the season around when they face Oklahoma State on Friday at 4 p.m. at the ISU soccer complex. The Cyclones will meet Oklahoma in another Big 12 Conference showdown Sunday at 1 p.m.

Last season, both games against the Cowboys and Sooners went to double overtime. Each game also ended in a tie.

Despite losing five of their last six games, interim head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said the Cyclones have taken something positive from each game and are using the losses as motivation.

“The players have responded very positively despite the fact that we dropped two games over the weekend,” Hornbacher said. “They believe in our team concept and are focusing on individual things that will help us become better collectively.”

Freshman forward Kristina Baumann, who scored a goal in a 4-2 loss to No. 7 Texas A&M on Sept. 27, said even though the season record has taken a hit, the team’s confidence has not.

“The attitude is still really high-energy and practices have been very intense,” Baumann said.

Baumann said that she feels that the team would have done much better against Texas but the game against Texas A&M took a lot out of them.

She also said that Texas was the better team but the big loss gives her team a goal to reach for in the future. The Longhorns scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of action and had a 5-0 lead after the first half.

Despite the poor statistical performance, Hornbacher said she was proud of the way her team really stepped up and competed last weekend against two of the best teams in the country.

She was also very pleased that they were able to score two goals against the two tough opponents.

“We’ve been doing a good job of creating opportunities and have really focused on having the mentality of shooting to score,” Hornbacher said. “The players are learning a lot of different ways to attack so we are unpredictable.”

The Cyclones have learned a lot in their first two games in the conference and now will look to capitalize, Hornbacher said.

“We need to look to maintain the level of intensity that our players are bringing to practice,” Hornbacher said. “We have to keep up our speed of play and be physical.”

Baumann said the team is still committed to the scheme Hornbacher has set for them.

“We’re definitely going in the right direction and hopefully this weekend we can start a win streak,” Baumann said.

Hornbacher said her team is very focused on getting better and that the leadership has started with the seniors and filtered all the way down to the freshmen.

“Any given day a player might have their shining moment and hopefully we can put the game away,” she said.