Last season the Iowa State women’s soccer team played eight overtime games and went 0-5-3 in those games. In the opening weekend this season, they dropped yet another overtime game against Missouri.

Cyclones continue to be aggressive offensively

In their first two games combined, the Cyclones took 37 shots in total. Against Missouri the team took 17 shots, nine of which were on goal. Through the first two regular season games, the Cyclones have put over half of their shots on goal.

“We had great opportunities and they just didn’t fall for us,” coach Tony Minatta said.

Missouri scored a goal early in the second half to gain a 1-0 lead over the Cyclones. However, the Cyclones turned up the pressure on the Tigers by taking 10 shots in the second half.

Junior Kasey Opfer broke through for the Cyclones, scoring a goal in the 80th minute and forcing the game to go to overtime.

The Tigers escaped Ames with a 2-1 victory in overtime.

“Tighten things up”

The Cyclones have put themselves in a position to win so far. They have taken nine more shots than their opponents and have put six more shots on goal.

The first half of the Missouri game was controlled by the Tigers, as they took 10 shots while the Cyclones only had three.

“We played really well this weekend, but at times we hit a lull where we weren’t able to find a rhythm and we lost the flow of the game for a bit,” Minatta said.

With the game against Missouri being so close, the little things could have made a difference.

“We’ve been tightening up the little things in practice, we’ve worked on one on one defending,” Minatta said.

Despite dropping their game against Missouri, the Cyclones are optimistic going forward.

“We played a really good… really strong game overall and it’s just a matter of continuing to play with that same effort, energy, and tightening up a lot of mistakes that led to the loss,” Minatta said.

For the Cyclones to be able to bounce back from the Missouri loss and gain momentum, they’ll have to continue to work to get better every day.

“[Today] was a great practice, it was spirited and had a lot of energy and tomorrow we’re going come back and tighten some things up,” Minatta said.

Minatta believes they’ve sent a message to other teams

Going into the Missouri game, coach Minatta saw the matchup as a test to see where his team is at. Minatta said he believes the game against Missouri proves that the Cyclones can’t be taken lightly.

“Everybody knows that when they face us they can’t take us lightly, we’re going to give them a game,” Minatta said.

For the Cyclones, gaining respect from their opponents is a huge step in the right direction after a disappointing season last year.

“We definitely put ourselves in position to gain some respect, but that comes from game after game,” Minatta said. “It doesn’t matter what we did well one day if we don’t play well the next.”

The Cyclones will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, this weekend to take on the Northwestern Wildcats on Friday at 3 p.m. and the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday at 2 p.m.