The Iowa State soccer team proved Sunday that the University of Iowa can be beat and in a big way.

After a five-game losing streak, the Cyclones pulled together to defeat intrastate rival Iowa at Iowa City.

The team scored a season high of three goals in a game called “a major win for this program” by Coach Cathy Klein.

Coming off a hard loss last Thursday to the 11th-rated Nebraska Cornhuskers (with a final game score of 0-7), the Cyclones overall record had dropped to 2-5.

ISU played three nationally ranked teams in a row, with the results being all losses. Klein felt the team used experience from losing to these nationally ranked teams and applied those lessons to the Iowa game.

At 13:19 in the game, sophomore forward Barb Lavergne scored an unassisted goal. It was followed by another Cyclone goal at 30:54 by Patti Reed, assisted by Brittany Hull and Lindsey Rector. The score was 2-0 at halftime.

Iowa scored first during the second half at the 59-minute mark, but ISU kicked in another goal before the end of the game when Jo Hinks scored off a direct kick at 71:43.

The Cyclones outshot the Hawks 13-12 and took home a victory with a score of 2-1.

The game was called “crazy” by Lavergne, with the team playing a strong first half, then loosing some control during the second half. Lavergne said she knew playing Iowa was a big deal.

“We dominated the whole game. We are stronger; it was our win,” said Lavergne.

The ball was all over the field during the second half, with the intensity level rising after some questionable calls by the referee and coaches from both teams receiving a yellow card.

After an Iowa player was injured, Lavergne said the team knew they had to “simmer down and pull together, ignoring the coaches, [a yellow card], the bench and the referee.”

Klein said the team played the best game of the season, even under adverse conditions.

Klein said she is “very proud of them.”

She said the team has been playing nationally ranked squads, so the final scores fail to show the improvements the team makes from game to game.

She said the Iowa win shows that the team is moving in the right direction.

This was the first meeting between the two young soccer teams …1997 being the inaugural year of Iowa’s varsity program and the second year of varsity soccer for ISU.

The Cyclones’ overall game record is now at 3-5, and the team is 0-4 in the Big 12.

The team is looking to chalk one up in the win category this Friday when ISU hosts conference rival Texas Tech at home.

The game is set for 4 p.m. at the ISU Soccer Complex.