On Saturday night, the Iowa State Women’s soccer team traveled to Cownie Sports Complex to face the Drake Bulldogs in an exhibition game.

Saturday night was a special game, as Drake hosted it’s annual “Kick Cancer” game.

Before the game, one Bulldog player was honored at midfield. Ten months ago senior midfielder Alyssa Brand was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After having a successful surgery following the 2017 season, Brand is now cancer free.

According to a Drake Women’s soccer press release, “To help bring awareness to Brand’s courageous fight and for others dealing with cancer, the team wore special teal “Kick Cancer” jerseys for the in-state match. Prior to kickoff, Brand was joined by her parents, Warren and Michelle, and her sisters, Stephanie and Jessica, for a special introduction.”

Because of Brand being honored, there was some added emotion.

“[There was] definitely a big crowd tonight. It’s awesome that she was able to come back from that,” said Iowa State women’s soccer coach Tony Minatta.

As for the game itself, the Cyclones were aggressive from the get-go, creating early goal opportunities.

“We had some good opportunities,” Minatta said. “Courtney Powell definitely showed her pace tonight and how much of an offensive weapon she is.”

After creating a lot of scoring chances, Powell was able to be the ball in the back of the net in the 52nd minute to give the Cyclones a 1-0 lead.

“It felt really good to score the first goal,” Powell said. “I was out all spring, so I put a lot of hard work in this summer to come back.”

The Cyclones were able to put the game away in the 87th minute when senior midfielder Emily Steil scored a goal to give the Cyclones a 2-0 victory over the Bulldogs.

Steil, who scored the goal with 2 minutes and 22 seconds left in the game, did so on her 22nd birthday.

“It was a surreal experience, everyone started screaming after the shot went in,” Steil said.

While it was only an exhibition, the win gives Iowa State something to build off of.

Last season, the Cyclones finished with a road victory over Kansas State, and the team wanted to get off to a good start.

“Coming off of last season, we wanted to start off where we finished,” Minatta said. “It’s good for us to get our confidence going.”

Going into any game, each team has certain things that they want to do that they think will help them get the win.

“We had three focus points: establish our defensive organization, take care of the ball and attack with speed,” Minatta said. “We accomplished those well tonight, but we still have room to improve.”