Iowa State soccer gained two crucial conference wins this weekend in front of large home crowds, by defeating Kansas on Friday and Missouri on Sunday. The successful weekend improved ISU’s record to 3-5 in the Big 12 Conference. Coach Cathy Klein called Sunday’s overtime victory, “the biggest win in the program’s history.”

Friday the Cyclones downed the Kansas Jayhawks as senior Jo Hinks led the team with three goals. All of ISU’s goals were scored during the first half of the game.

Hinks scored the first goal of the game at 10:50, getting the ball from Patti Reed and Lindsey Rector. Freshman Brittany Hull scored next at the 29:24 mark, off an assist from Barb Lavergne.

Hinks came back two minutes later on the offensive to score another goal. Not to be stopped, she scored a third goal right before halftime off another assist from Lavergne, leading to a halftime score of 4-0.

The Cyclones nearly had a shutout, but Kansas lit the scoreboard with only 23 seconds remaining, for a final score of 4-1.

Klein said she was happy to see Hinks make her marks in the stat sheets during Friday’s game.

“It was great for Jo to finally be the forward we know her to be,” Klein said.

The Cyclones outshot the Jayhawks 20-7. Sophomore goalkeeper Hayley Mercer played the full 90 minutes, picking up four saves.

“Hayley and Barb were a stabilizing factor in the backfield,” Klein said.

ISU was not about to split another weekend of home play, as the Cyclones came back strong on Sunday to defeat the Missouri Tigers in thrilling come-from-behind fashion.

Hinks was a top scorer in Sundays game also, with two goals, including the game-winner in overtime.

Missouri scored all its goals during the first half, with the Tigers leading 3-0 at halftime.

In the second half, Iowa State scored three times to tie up the game at the end of regulation. The first goal of the second half was scored by forward Jun Shen at 51:42, the second by Hinks at 62:27, and the third by Shen from Patti Reed and Lavergne with a mere 25 seconds remaining in regulation.

Five minutes into the first overtime period, Hinks finished the game with her second goal. Hinks slid the ball in from right in front of the net, and the Cyclones claimed the sudden-death victory.

“We knew to win the game we would have to play tougher and harder, coming back and picking it up during the second half,” Hinks said.

“Everyone worked hard, I’m glad we won.”

Shen had a big showing on Sunday after having been benched for the past few games.

Shen said being on the bench made her push harder and get better, and today she was able to pull back.

“I got some good chances for goals, but they were a team effort,” Shen said.

Shen also said the team changed mentally during the second half, which led to the win. “We knew we had no choice but to win if we wanted to make conference championship play.”

Klein said, “The game was won because of the team’s level of commitment, responsibility and sacrifice during the second half.”

Klein said the team was uninspired and made some poor decisions during the first half, but “they were playing for their season during the second half.”

Lavergne said the team’s confidence increased during the second half, and the team “knew it was important to score within the first 10 minutes of the second half if we wanted to win this game.”

Lavergne played four different positions during Sunday’s game, and even continued to play after spraining her ankle. “I didn’t think about it. I was on such a high,” she said.

Mercer played the entire game again, recording a total of eight saves.

“Hayley came up with brilliant saves, she put us in a position to win,” Klein said. “I am very proud of her.”

Klein said the team trained in this type of environment for the past two weeks, which allowed for the tremendous feat of scoring three goals in the final 33 minutes. “It was an exciting, amazing accomplishment,” she said.

ISU’s next game will be Friday against Western Illinois at the ISU Soccer Complex. Game time is set for 4 p.m.