The Cyclones opened their season at home Friday night against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

After winning their exhibition game, the Cyclones were looking to start the regular season on the right foot.

“It was really important,” head coach Tony Minatta said. “We had a lot of fans in the stands and we wanted to get the season started off on the right foot.” 

Earlier this week, Minatta preached that in order to beat the Jackrabbits, Iowa State would have to be disciplined defending, took care of the ball and make sure that they were attacking with speed in order to break them down.

“Defensively we played very well tonight, we really didn’t give them a good quality chance,” Minatta said. “We attacked well tonight and we took better care of the ball tonight than we did against Drake.”

Both teams had early opportunities to score, but both defenses held up for a while.

In the 32nd minute, sophomore Kassi Ginther put the ball in the box and set up a Courtney Powell goal.

The Cyclones continued to deny the Jackrabbits on the defensive end.

In the 61st minute, Emily Steil was able to score off a penalty kick to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead.

The Cyclones look to build off this win on Sunday, as they host the Missouri Tigers at 2 p.m.