Three games.

That’s what stands between the Iowa State soccer team and a trip to the Big 12 Women’s Soccer Championship.

TCU, Texas Tech, Kansas State: the three teams that stand in the way of Iowa State’s road to Oklahoma City. 

Each Big 12 team has played six conference games so far this season to date. Three teams are battling with Iowa State to earn what looks to be the final spot in the table.

Texas Tech has a win and a tie, Oklahoma has three ties, and Kansas State has one win.

Iowa State has a singular tie, for comparison.

Though, coach Tony Minatta’s team has shown no signs of quitting all year, the team knows what it needs to do.

“If you go three and [zero], you’re in the tournament,” Minatta said.

Iowa State will take on TCU at home on Thursday, and remain in Ames to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders on senior day Sunday afternoon.

“This weekend is going to be huge for us,” said Ames native Stella Maris Strohman. “I think that we understand how important they are. Everybody is still fighting. I think it shows the character of this team.”

Things haven’t gone Iowa State’s way at all this season.

In one-goal games, the Cyclones hold a record of 0-8.

In overtime matches, Iowa State is 0-4-2.

“We’re just kind of waiting for games to fall our way,” said junior Riley Behan. “[We can’t] let ourselves think about the weight of the games. If we play our style of game, the wins will come.”

Minatta said he looks at it like an old Japanese proverb:

Get knocked down seven times, get up eight.

Only in this case for the Cyclones, it’s getting knocked down eight times, and needing to get up a couple more.

“If we just keep pushing, and keep fighting, I honestly believe it will pay off for them,” Minatta said.

Another part of the problem for Iowa State this year has been the multitude of injuries the team has succumbed to.

At one point this season, one third of Minatta’s team had been taken off the field due to injuries.

The team had so many players out that they couldn’t practice a full scrimmage because they only had 18 field players available.

Though, for these next three games, the Cyclones will see the return of Carly Langhurst to the back line.

Langhurst, a sophomore from Cedar Rapids, started one game this year for the team against Minnesota and played in a handful of others before being bit by the injury bug.

Now, upon her return, Minatta is hoping to not break up any chemistry his team had.

“When you try to integrate players back into the mix, it [can] disrupt some chemistry that you’ve built without them,” Minatta said. “I think that with the depth that we’re going to have, we’re ready for the challenge.”

The road starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at the Cyclone Sports Complex against TCU.

“There’s an opportunity there for us,” Minatta said. “It’s just the matter of are we going to take advantage of the opportunities that we create, score the goals and get the result.”