It was a bittersweet senior day at the Cyclone Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon as the Iowa State Cyclones tied the Texas Tech Red Raiders 1-1.

The result means Iowa State is officially eliminated from making a trip to the Big 12 Championship Tournament in Kansas City, Kansas next month.

“We put it all out there to win, but we couldn’t come away with it,” said coach Tony Minatta following the game.

After going down 1-0 by allowing a goal in the final minute of the first half, it looked like another loss would be coming for the team.

Iowa State has struggled to score goals all season, and the opportunities to do so were sparse in the second half.

Though, Hannah Cade was there with three minutes to play to tie things up.

The sophomore that leads the team in goals in 2017 saw a cross come in from Shea Sullivan and she was able to net a goal.

“The ball that [Sullivan] put in was brilliant,” Minatta said. “We have been trying to get into our attack from those outside backs. It was awesome, especially the timing of it. [The team] never quits.”

Despite the bright spot, Minatta was visibly disappointed in the fact that his team wouldn’t be in the postseason this year, especially after what they had gotten through this season.

The Cyclones fought off a massive injury bug that took out over a third of the team’s roster from the start of the season.

There was a time where Iowa State couldn’t practice an 11-on-11 scrimmage because they only had 18 field players that could play.

“We’ve overcome everything that’s been thrown at us,” Minatta said. “And after everything that’s happened, [we’ve] just kept fighting.”

Though the team came up short on senior day, Sunday was a chance to look back at one of the best Iowa State soccer teams in school history.

That was last season’s squad, where the seniors from this year would have been juniors.

“They’ve all grown so much since they’ve been here,” Minatta said. “They’ve all really grown and matured.”

One of those players that has grown and matured over her time at Iowa State was Stella Maris Strohman.

Maris Strohman was a walk-on that scored her first Big 12 goal this season. 

“Yeah [today] was dissapointing,” Maris Strohman said. “But, I wouldn’t want anyone else on the field with me today.”

Maris Strohman and the other seniors were part of a team that finished with the highest RPI in school history.

The group also nearly made the NCAA tournament for the second time ever, if it weren’t for being snubbed at the last minute.

They were successful to say the least.

Although the loss on Sunday dropped the team’s overall record to 2-13-3, the season wasn’t a complete wash.

“If we looked at results of the season, you could say it was bad,” Maris Strohman said. “But, that’s not how we’re looking at it. The strength that we’ve shown – that’s what matters to me.”