In a dominating 3–0 win over Grand View, the Iowa State soccer team’s home game Thursday was influenced by a heavy wind.

The Cyclones welcomed Grand View for a 70-minute game Thursday evening and controlled the game, creating a lot of chances and shooting on the goal more than 15 times.

At the same time, they did not allow chances for the Vikings and ended the game without one shot taken on their own goal.

The team started off a little slow in the first ten minutes, becoming used to the windy conditions. After that, they created some chances to score out of the game but eventually went up with a penalty kick that midfielder Mira Emma converted.

In the remainder of the first half, the team continued to control the ball possession without coming really close to a second goal. 

“We started playing to look good rather than just get it done,” head coach Matt Fannon said. 

From the start of the second half, the team focused on playing quick touch and move, which worked very well, midfielder Lauren McConnell said. 

Seven minutes after the start of the second half, Magdalena Keck lobbed the ball past the goalkeeper putting the team up 2–0. After this goal, the Cyclones completely dominated ball possession, played around the edge of the box, created chances and worked on the third goal. 

After putting the Grand View defense under a lot of pressure, the Cyclones raised their lead to 3–0 with a goal two minutes before the final whistle.

While being the dominating team, the weather conditions affected the team’s style of play a lot. They had the wind in their back in the first half and tried to use it with long balls into the front third. 

In the second half, Grand View tried to change their game plan, using the wind now being in their back. But instead of letting the Vikings create chances, the Cyclones were cautious to not be endangered by long balls, defender Olivia Edwards said. 

While playing against the wind, the team concentrated on the type of soccer they worked on, playing with the ball on the ground, diminishing the influence of the wind. A solution that the team has to be used to, according to Fannon.

“We play a brand of soccer that if we don’t have bad conditions it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “But we’re in Iowa, it is what it is.”