Tough defense and two late goals gave the Iowa State soccer team a 2-0 victory over intrastate rival Iowa Friday afternoon at the ISU soccer complex. It was the first time ISU Coach Stephanie Gabbert faced her former team as last year she coached the Hawks to a record of 13-7 and a third-place finish in the Big Ten. With the Cyclones winning last year’s contest on a Katie Antongiovanni overtime goal, the table was now set for a rematch between the two rivals. ISU now leads the overall series 3-0-1. “There was a lot of hype surrounding this game and I thought our team was starting to get lost in the shuffle,” Gabbert said. Both teams started out shaky in the first half and the majority of the play went back and forth. Then in the 32nd minute, Nicole Wilcox had her scoring opportunity rejected by a diving Hawkeye goaltender. Only one other shot was taken by the Cyclones in the first half. Led by defender Angie Portincaso, the ISU defense played a solid game and continues to be the backbone of the team. Portincaso patrolled the field, making a number of outstanding defensive plays to keep the Hawks scoreless at the half. During the 22nd minute, a Hawkeye forward broke away from the defense with only the goalie to beat for the score. Then a sliding Portincaso came in and knocked the ball away before a shot could be taken. “Angie is so vital to the defense. She comes up big in games like this,” Gabbert said. By the end of the first half, the Hawkeyes had out shot the Cyclones 5-2, but neither team was able to put any in the net, as the score remained 0-0. “We kept going for the long balls early on. Both Haley and I weren’t able to control as well, and their defense kept going over us and winning the ball,” Wilcox said about the first half. With the nerves dissipating in the second half, the Cyclones started to take control. “Once we got things settled down and organized we stepped up and played the game we could play,” Portincaso said. The half began with a pair of near misses by Wilcox, with the Hawkeye goalie making another spectacular save. After scoring the winning goal in overtime last year, it was now time for Antongiovanni to come through in the clutch again. After 72 scoreless minutes, the tie was no more. Antongiovanni received a pass from Jill Borcherding, and then proceeded to put the ball in the left side of the net just past the hard charging goalie. A few moments later, Wilcox took possession of the ball and dribbled down the sideline past the Hawk defenders, cut right, stopped, and tapped the ball past the goalie and into the net. “Nicole is going to be very tough to stop. With Wilcox and Antongiovanni playing off each other, they are going to be a very dangerous pair,” Gabbert said. The defense continued its control of the field in the second half. A couple of nice plays by Portincaso, and a few key saves by Elizabeth Champion preserved the shutout. “It always feels good to beat your intrastate rival,” Portincaso said. “Our defense is so tough. We haven’t given up a goal yet in the flow of play this year. There have been two goals off set plays,” Gabbert said. The Cyclones improve to 3-1-1, while the Hawks fall to 4-1. “I think today we showed why we’re a better team. They played with a lot of composure, and you have to give the defense a lot of credit,” Gabbert said after the game.