The Iowa State Women’s Hockey Club’s scoring problems continued to haunt them as the season wrapped up.
Heading into the weekend, the Cyclones haven’t scored more than two goals since the first game of the month, which is also the last game that they won.
Having lost seven out of its last eight, Iowa State wanted to end its season on the right foot on home ice.
Game one featured a low-scoring affair, with only one goal being put between the pipes.
Augustana owned possession of the puck the whole game and wound up outshooting the Cyclones 48-9.
Goaltender Natalie Kayser stood on her head, stopping nearly everything against one of the best teams in the division and against some of the best players in all of D2 women’s hockey.
A weakness all season for the Cyclones has been staying disciplined, but the parade to the penalty box resumed Saturday.
Iowa State took five penalties, three by defenseman Paige Hines, to the Vikings’ two. Luckily, none of them punished the Cyclones.
Neither team scored in the first two periods of action, and it took until the third period for the game-winning goal to be scored.
It was Lyvia McManigle for Augustana who scored her first goal of the season to put the Cyclones away with a little under seven minutes to play.
There was optimism after the first game because Iowa State held one of the best teams in the D2 Independent Division to a one-score game. Getting on the board was crucial heading into game two.
The first goal in the following game occurred a lot quicker. One of the top goal-scoring threats in the league, forward Kate Lemoine buried her 26th of the year to put the Cyclones in an early hole.
Iowa State fended off the Vikings’ attacks and got more pucks on goal, heading into the second intermission of play still down one.
The game opened up in the third period. The Vikings scored another with 10 minutes to play to make the score 2-0.
Then, with 10 seconds left in the game, Haley Romans scored her first of the season as well to put the game out of reach for the Cyclones.
If salt wasn’t already in the wound, Augustana wasn’t done yet. The Vikings lit the lamp one final time with two seconds remaining.
The game was a lot closer than the 4-0 score looks to box score watchers. The Cyclones played better offensively, registering 20 shots on goal. However, they couldn’t get past Alexis Metcalf, who has been excellent all season for Augustana.
Allison Moore suited up for the final game and didn’t have a bad showing to conclude her 2026. She saved 28 out of 32 shots for Iowa State.
Iowa State finished its season with a record of 5-16-1 and lost its last six games. In 22 games, the Cyclones scored 44 goals and allowed 78 goals.
Captain Tessa Strand led the team in points with 22. She was also fourth in points among defensemen in the D2 Independent Division.
Tori Lacomy scored 13 goals to lead the way for Iowa State this season. Abigail Moore also put together a nice season with two goals and 12 assists.
Ellie Volkers played in eight games, but in those, she was very effective. She scored eight goals and three assists and Iowa State missed her production down the stretch of the season.
Allison Moore got the bulk of the playing time in the crease. She played 16 games and owned a 3.85 goals against average and an 86.3% save percentage.
Kayser got her first start in February and hasn’t looked back, and in the five games she played, she was sensational, with her best coming in game one of the series against Augustana.
The Cyclones didn’t hope the season would end this way, but they will look forward to the 2026-27 season.
