Coming on the heels of the football team’s upset win at Iowa last Saturday, the Iowa State women’s soccer team headed into Iowa City Tuesday with the same goal as the football team: victory.

A hostile environment provided the backdrop for an exciting game that went into two scoreless overtime periods and ended in a 1-1 tie.

Head coach Cathy Klein said that after a sluggish first half, the team began to put things together in the second half.

“We came out flat and uninspired in the first 45 minutes,” Klein said. “We got on course in the second half and in overtime.”

The crowd environment, Klein said, may have played a part in the team’s play.

“Any time you go into Iowa City, you’re going into a combative environment,” Klein said. “The older players were prepared for this, but the younger ones were not.”

After falling behind in the first half, freshman Jenelle Brandt scored the lone goal for the Cyclones in the 51st minute of the game to tie the score up and send the game into overtime.

Freshman goalkeeper Lynley Hilligoss made eight saves in 120 minutes of work. Currently, Hilligoss has the 13th best saves per game average in the nation at 9.67.

Klein has been pleased with the play of her starting goalkeeper this season.

“She has outperformed all of our goalkeepers [Leimer and Mercer] in all of our games,” Klein said. “Our goalkeeper position is one of the most competitive on the team.”

With a record of 2-1-1, the season has been successful thus far for the soccer team. Much of that success can be attributed to the play of several key freshmen and sophomores on the team.

“Anytime that you rely on younger players to win games, you know you’re doing a good job recruiting,” Klein said. “We’re very proud of our freshmen, especially Hilligoss and [Erica] Florez. However, we’ve got to get our veterans contributing, too.”

Freshman Janelle Beil is the team’s leading scorer with four goals. Beil scored the go-ahead goal in the team’s 3-1 victory over Oakland University on September 12.

She added two goals in the team’s 3-0 shutout against Mississippi State on September 6 and scored the first goal of her career in the Cyclones’ season opener, a 4-1 loss to Vanderbilt on September 4.

Klein said that Beil has been a welcome addition to the team this season.

“She was a late addition to the team and has been the biggest surprise for us this season,” Klein said. “She has natural goal-scoring touch, and when she gets fit and maintains her intensity for 90 minutes, she will be even better.”

At the season opener, the Vanderbilt Diadora Classic tournament, the Cyclones placed three players: Beil, Florez and sophomore Patti Reed, on the all-tournament team.

Klein had nothing but positive words to say when talking about this trio.

“Janelle scored two of our four goals in the tournament and showed her scoring prowess,” Klein said. “Florez is dangerous anytime she touches the ball, and Reed is excellent in the backfield.”

Even though the team began the season with a loss, Klein views the loss in a positive light.

“We showed up ready to play and I was satisfied with our effort. Vanderbilt is ranked 16th in the country. They are a good team,” Klein said.

The second game of the season was a victory over Mississippi State, but Klein still keeps the win in perspective.

“We executed under pressure to win the game, but we still have a ways to go,” Klein said. “We’re still learning how to win games.”

A win over Oakland University marked the Cyclones’ third game of the season. Klein sees this victory as a springboard to future success.

“The Oakland game saw us participate at a big game level,” Klein said. “We used Oakland as almost a training environment to get us ready to win Big 12 games.”

After two games in Florida, against Nova University on Friday, September 18 and Miami on Sunday, September 20, the squad will take on its first Big 12 opponent of the season, Nebraska, on Wednesday, September 23 in Ames.

It is that all-important conference play that will determine the fate of the Cyclones’ season, Klein said.

“My job is to get the team ready to compete at a high level in the Big 12,” Klein said. “I look for improvement in the near future.”