AMES — The late aggression in the second half of the matchup against Cincinnati resulted in four Iowa State players exiting the field with injuries.
With the first period ending 0-0, the Cyclones entered the second half more composed and strategic compared to the slow first half. Both teams battled out the slow start, but neither was able to score a goal, as the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
“We came off slowly again in the first half which needs to be something we do not do when we play at home, I am a little confused as to why we do that as it’s a big part of making sure we get on the front foot,” Iowa State head coach Matt Fannon said. “Because we didn’t get off on the front foot we ended up chasing a bit.”
Coming off a great first half offensively, senior midfielder Lauren McConnell was first to leave the field, clutching her knee from a previous play. McConnell’s aggressive defense and speed were a high reliance in the first half and the start of the second half, but during a play aiming for possession, McConnell’s knee hit an opponent’s head leading to a tumble. McConnell was able to walk it off and continued the second half, but was later found clutching her knee and ended up walking off the field.
The Cyclones’ aggression was the clear strategy for the game and a big motivator for the second half, as Iowa State ended the game with 12 fouls compared to Cincinnati’s 13.
“We dealt with our opponents a lot in the midfield as we got a lot tighter with them so we were able to win those battles,” senior forward Leia Khairy said. “From there we were able to find our forwards and advanced leading us to attack more in the second half.”
In the middle of the second half, senior forward Morgan Furmaniak left the game due to a header gone wrong. While attempting to gain possession of the ball against a Bearcat player, both players went up to head the ball. However, Furmaniak tilted back too far and hit her head on the opponent’s chin. Furmaniak left the field but later returned to end the game.
“This was just another game, you have to go in knowing that every period is going to be a battle,” Furmaniak said. “You have to go in with force, otherwise you won’t come out with the ball.”
As the aggression continued throughout the second half, Iowa State and Cincinnati both walked away with three yellow cards.
The third player to be substituted out in today’s matchup was junior defender Adelaide Wolfe, who was shown to be limping off the field.
“It’s always unfortunate when someone goes down, but we have a lot of depth in our team that if somebody goes down we can take that spot and I’m pretty confident for whoever subs in,” Khairy said.
Ending the injury streak was senior midfielder Yira Yoggerst, who was shown to be favoring her knee after an attempted, noncontact swing for the ball.
“We are already in a space where we got six players out for the season,” Fannon said. “We have people that we are still patching up to try and play, so we will see what the next couple of days looks like.”
