The Iowa State soccer team is coming off of a 2-0 loss to the Texas Longhorns and are now looking ahead to a two game home stint this week. The Cyclones face Texas Tech on Thursday and TCU on Sunday with both games set to be challenges for the squad. 

In regards to the loss away from home at Texas, the Cyclones were put up against one of the best teams in the conference but held their own and could have seen the match go their way. While the Cyclones did not create as many chances as the Longhorns, they created some quality chances and had the opportunity to go 1-0 up in the first half.

Despite the loss, Iowa State head coach Matt Fannon feels the team is headed in the right direction and can learn from these challenges in the conference.

“I think there were a huge amount of positives in the game quite frankly,” Fannon said. “We know that we can, at the very least, compete with these teams. We’re not a million miles away.” 

Defender Brooke Miller also felt the game was not far away from the Cyclones, as she says once the team works on finishing big chances, they can compete with anyone. 

“We did put up a good fight, we made plenty of chances that we should of finished that could have changed the game in our favor,” Miller said. “But I think just working on finishing our chances and building momentum and not giving away silly goals is going to be helpful for our next Texas games.” 

Looking ahead to the two games this week, the Cyclones are hoping to build some momentum at home before finishing off the rest of the regular season. There are five games left in conference play and midfielder Mira Emma still believes the conference is anyone’s at this point. 

“This conference is still up for grabs,” Emma said. “If you look at this weekend’s past games and how competitive it is, any given day anybody can beat anybody, so you gotta show up and play and be on your A-game.”

In terms of preparation for the two games this week, Fannon believes they are going to be two very different games considering the play styles of both teams. Texas Tech likes to drive the ball forward and tries to find their forwards who are clinical in front of goal while TCU plays more with possession and tries to create and exploit space.  

These two match ups are going to be tough for the Cyclones, but they are up to the challenge, as Fannon says.  

“I know in the long run these games are brilliant for our development,” Fannon said. “That doesn’t stop them from hurting to lose the game right now. I don’t think anybody’s interested in how good we’re going to be in two or three years; I know that needs to be the thing that keeps me sane while we’re going through this.” 

“We really feel like we’re getting closer and closer, and we need to get the balance right between knowing that there are teams better than us right now and figuring out how to win.”

The Cyclones will try to find that balance at 6 p.m. Thursday as they face Texas Tech and again at 1 p.m. Sunday against TCU. Both games will be at the Cyclones Sports Complex and will be available to stream on ESPN+ via Big 12 Now.