Cyclones prepare for season finale full of postseason implications
Senior Emily Steil steals the ball away from West Virginia on Oct. 12 at the Cyclone Sports Complex. The cyclones are wearing pink to support breast cancer awareness.
October 24, 2018
On Thursday night, Kansas State travels to Ames to face the Iowa State Cyclones on senior night.
The Thursday night games in the Big 12 are the final regular season matchups of the year, as the Big 12 Tournament begins on Sunday in Kansas City, Missouri.
While the Wildcats can’t make it to the Big 12 tournament, the matchup in Ames could still determine the last spot in the Big 12 Tournament.
Iowa State is in ninth place in the Big 12 and one game out of eighth place. Oklahoma State is one game ahead of the Cyclones. The Cyclones beat Oklahoma State Sunday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, so if the Cyclones and Cowgirls finish in a tie for eighth place, the Cyclones would win the tiebreaker and play in the Big 12 tournament.
The Cyclones need a win against the Wildcats and an Oklahoma State loss to the Texas Christian Horned Frogs in order to finish in eighth place and qualify for the Big 12 tournament.
“You can’t take anything for granted,” said coach Tony Minatta. “If we want to go play on Sunday, we have to care of everything that we need to take care of and the rest is out of our control.”
The Wildcats are 4-11-2 on the season and are in last place in the conference with an 0-8 in Big 12 play.
Its four wins on the season came against Saint Louis, Oakland, Drake and Tulsa.
In those four wins, the Wildcats outscored their opponents by a margin of 9-0.
“They’re pretty good; we can’t come out just thinking that we are going to win this game,” said sophomore midfielder Kassi Ginther.
The Wildcats play an attacking style which is something the Cyclones have faced all season long.
“They’re a scrappy team, they’ve been playing teams really tough this year,” Minatta said. “The reality for us is that we need to maintain our shape, defensive discipline and play the way that we’ve been playing building up to this.”
In the last six games, the Wildcats have struggled offensively as they have only scored one goal.
Iowa State’s lone won in the Big 12 last season was a 2-1 victory that came in Manhattan, Kansas, against the Wildcats.
“We had a win against them last year, they’re a good team, so we know we have to go out and play them just like anyone else,” said sophomore goalkeeper Dayja Schwichtenberg.
The Cyclones and Wildcats will kick off at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at Cyclone Sports Complex.
