The 2018 season begins this weekend at Cyclone Sports Complex with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits coming to Ames on Friday and the Missouri Tigers visiting on Sunday.

Iowa State won its exhibition at Drake last Saturday. Despite winning, the team is not satisfied with how the game went.

“We were happy with the result, but not with the way we played,” said Iowa State coach Tony Minatta. “The practices have been really intense.” 

Coming off the win against Drake, Iowa State’s focus turns to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Iowa State, who finished 3-12-3 last season and is projected to finish last this season, will host South Dakota State at 7:30 p.m.

South Dakota State finished 11-5-3 last season and were the regular season Summit League champions. The Jackrabbits lost their exhibition game at Minnesota 2-1. Iowa State leads the all-time series with a record of 3-2-2.

Last season, the Jackrabbits and Cyclones went to overtime and finished the game tied 0-0 at South Dakota State.

“Last year we got called for offsides a lot, and this year we feel that we have a lot of speed that we can break them down in the back,” Minatta said.

Coming into that game, the Cyclones had lost their rivalry game against Iowa and were blown out against Minnesota.

“We need to attack with a different mindset, in last years game we didn’t have that,” Minatta said.

The Jackrabbits are picked to finish second in the Summit League and a familiar opponent to the Cyclones.

“We’ve played them every year that I’ve been here,” Minatta said. “They’re very similar every year, they’re a hardworking blue-collar team.”

The Cyclones know what it’s going to take to beat the Jackrabbits.

“You have to be disciplined defending, take care of the ball, make sure you’re attacking at speed in order to break them down,” Minatta said.

Former Big 12 foe Missouri will to face the Cyclones on Sunday. In 2017, the Tigers finished 8-12-1 and are picked to finish 10th in the SEC this season.

Missouri won both their exhibition games against Missouri State (6-0) and nationally ranked Oklahoma State (2-1). The Tigers will travel to Iowa City to face Iowa on Friday before making the trip to Ames.

Coach Minatta sees some similarities between the Cyclones and the Tigers.

“They are a lot like us athletically, but they press a lot so our playing styles are contrasting,” Minatta said.

Missouri won last year’s matchup in Columbia, 2-0. Missouri leads the all-time series against the Cyclones 10-6-1. Minatta speaks highly of the Missouri team.

“They’ve done well in the SEC, so this matchup will be a good test for us,” Minatta said.

The match between Missouri and Iowa State is set for a 2 p.m. at Cyclone Sports Complex on Sunday.

Last season, the injury bug hit the Cyclones hard. This season one Cyclone has already been sidelined by an injury. Coach Minatta announced that senior co-captain Riley Behan will be out indefinitely with a broken foot.

With all the events going on at Iowa State right now, coach Minatta is excited to be playing the team’s first games at home.

“It’s great to be at home for the first couple games because of the students moving in, fan fest and the student-athlete welcome back barbecue,” Minatta said. “We have the best fans in the country and the energy they have really helps us play the Iowa State Way.”