The 2020 soccer season has come and gone for Iowa State, and once again, it ended in a familiar sight for Iowa State soccer fans.

This season, the Cyclones went 2-6-1 in their brief conference-only schedule. For a team that did not win a Big 12 game last year, improvement was almost inevitable this season under a new regime.

Over the course of the season, Iowa State showed reasons why their fans should start paying more attention to the program going forward, but there were still moments that displayed subpar performances the team will need to address in the offseason.

Aggressive play all around leads to increased chances

One glaring difference in this season’s team is how aggressive it played, particularly in the attacking third, as well as the goaltending.

First-year Head Coach Matt Fannon is known for his aggressive play, and he brought it to the forefront of the Cyclones’ game plan in 2020.

One would think being more aggressive would lead to more goals, or at least more chances.

That was the case for the Cyclones, particularly the latter. Fannon loved to rave about how close the team came to winning a couple more games, but he also was aware it deserved to lose in the end, mostly because of missed opportunities.

The team’s aggressive play was also featured in their rising star of a goaltender, sophomore transfer Jordan Silkowitz.

Silkowitz was consistently involved in close games this season, whether it was making saves, directing her teammates and even bringing the ball up late in games to provide the leg that could launch the ball seemingly into orbit.

The Cyclones only gave up 11 goals, which is roughly one per game. The only problem is they only scored five. If the team keeps generating chances next year, they should most likely see that number improve.

Rapid-fire Big 12 schedule provided little room for error

While every team was in the same boat as far as having a limited and certainly unorthodox season, the team would’ve liked to get some games in against nonconference opponents before being thrust into Big 12 action.

Iowa State opened the season against then-fourth-ranked West Virginia and then had to travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to face then-sixth-ranked Oklahoma State.

As expected, the team dropped both of those games and started the season 0-2 in the blink of an eye. This trial-by-fire circumstance ended up dooming any hopes the Cyclones had of being competitive.

Iowa State’s two wins came against 0-6-1 Oklahoma and 3-3-3 Baylor. 

As a whole, this season is one Matt Fannon and this young, developing Cyclone squad will hope to build off of next year.