The Iowa State soccer team continued their home-field winning streak this weekend, defeating the Illinois State Redbirds Saturday afternoon and the Westmar Eagles Sunday.

The Cyclones have now won six consecutive games and currently hold a 10-6 overall record. The Cyclones have completely dominated their last four opponents with shutouts in each match.

The Cyclones now hold the best record in school history.

Saturday, ISU scored five second-half goals to shutout the Redbirds by a score of 6-0.

“Top to bottom, [Saturday’s game] was the best offensive and defensive game in the history of this program,” Coach Cathy Klein said.

Senior Jo Hinks led the Cyclones against the Redbirds, scoring five points and collecting two goals and one assist.

Sophomore Lindsey Rector tallied three assists, and freshman Patti Reed scored four points on one goal and two assists.

Klein named Rector and Reed the most valuable players on offense for the Cyclones Saturday.

Saturday’s game was knotted at 0-0 until 18:18, when Reed booted the ball in off assists from Hinks and Krista Odenwald. The score remained 1-0 for the rest of the first half.

Hinks pushed the score to 3-0 after punching in the first two goals of the second half, at 48:38 and 60:31. Less than one minute later, the Cyclones went up 4-0, as sophomore Jun Shen scored.

The final two goals of the game were scored at the 67:26 mark by sophomore Elizabeth Salih and at 88:03 by Ali Sullivan, off a corner kick from Rector.

The Cyclones outshot the Redbirds 25-6, with goalkeeper Hayley Mercer recording five saves.

Sunday’s game against Westmar marked the last meeting between the two teams. Westmar University recently announced that it will be closing in November.

Reed said shutouts by the Cyclones in previous games had helped to build confidence, but said the team did not know what to make of the Westmar team.

“With the school’s closing, they wanted to prove something,” Reed said. “We didn’t know what to expect.”

ISU outshot Westmar 30-0, but was only able to convert on three attempts.

Odenwald led the Cyclones in scoring with three points on a goal and an assist.

Hinks put ISU on the board late in the first half, scoring off assists from Rector and Dawn Weber at the 33:49 mark. The score was 1-0 at halftime.

Odenwald helped the Cyclones reach 2-0 five minutes into the second half with an unassisted goal. At 61:12, Shen scored the Cyclones’ final goal after she received an assist from Sullivan and Odenwald.

Mercer played the full 90 minutes on goal, recording a shutout. She has started every game.

“Today’s game put us exactly in the position we hoped we would be in,” Klein said. “We scored three high level goals, I’m excited about any opportunity where we dominate the opposition.”

Klein said for the first time all season, the other team played with more heart than the Cyclones. She said this proved that the team can never let down their guard in order to succeed.

“The first half of the game started slow. We were not combining or passing,” Alicia Rollison said.

Rollison said the team picked it up during the second half by knocking the ball back and keeping it wide.

“We are playing the best we’ve played all season,” she said. “Our strong points are now our offense, combining and attacking in numbers.”

Klein said the Cyclones have progressed this season, especially in their attacking and defensive tactics.

She said Mercer and Lauren Muser have been important in game action, and Beth Leimer and Danielle O’Neill important in training.

“Our goalkeeping is also rock-solid,” Klein said. “We have four great goalkeepers.

“Everyone is contributing, everyone is a major part of the team,” she said.

Cyclone soccer heads south to face Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in conference action.

These will be the team’s last two conference games, which will, among other factors, decide the fate of the Cyclones Big 12 postseason conference tournament.

The Cyclones have their first-ever chance for an appearance in the Big 12 Tournament.

“There is no easy game in the Big 12 Conference, we will have to play our best to beat the best. I’m not worried about the opposition, if we preform our best,” Klein said.