The Iowa State soccer team is in a must-win situation as they are set to face Kansas State this Thursday. The Cyclones record currently sits at 4-11 and the team has three points in the conference.

With a win this week and a Kansas loss, the Cyclones could make it to the Big 12 Championship.

The Cyclones have lost their last five matches and are now in a must win situation if they want to carry on with their season. The team has registered just three shots on target over the last two games and head coach Matt Fannon acknowledges that the team has to do better in that department.

“I think it’s one of the challenges we’ve had, I think we’ve got players doing things we want to do everywhere except for in front of goal,” Fannon said. “We haven’t done well enough in that area, thats very clear.

“Truthfully we got to do a better job of coaching our players, we got to get some players in who know how to find the back of the net, It really is that simple.”

Headed into the match up against Kansas State, Fannon knows it will be no easy task as the team has some very talented players. Midfielder Brookelynn Entz is one of the players Fannon has his eye on as she put two past the Cyclones last season. 

Entz also was recently drafted 38th overall to the National Women’s Soccer League to the new expansion club in Kansas City. She is a top talent and it will be a difficult task to contain her, but the Cyclones are fully focused on winning come this Thursday. 

Forward Kenady Adams says the team is ready for the challenge as the team is ready to treat this game like a final.

“We talk about it all the time, play like you’re in a conference tournament, conference final,” Adams said. “That is the game on Thursday, a conference final for us and that’s what kind of makes it exciting.”

The Cyclones will have to be at their best this week to beat this Kansas State side and with the mentality the team has headed into it, they will surely be up to the task. Although the team has not gotten any results as of late they have not been playing particularly poor.

A lot of the Cyclones results come in the final minutes of the game where they concede late and if they can prevent that from happening this week, they’ll be in good shape. 

With a win and a bit of help from Texas as they face Kansas, the Cyclones still have a chance of making it to the Big 12 Championship tournament. 

The Cyclones face Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Thursday and the match is being streamed on ESPN+ via Big 12 Now.