Eight teams make the cut.

Out of the 10 schools that have field soccer teams in the Big 12, only the top eight finishing squads will make it to the conference tournament in Kansas City, Kansas, later this fall.

Coach Tony Minatta and the Cyclones sure want to be there and this weekend provides a critical matchup for that.

The Cyclones will take on one of the other two winless teams, the Oklahoma Sooners, in its conference in the first of two games this weekend. 

“It’s crucial,” Minatta said. “We’re both at the bottom of the table. It’s two big home games. We need to put one away and get a result. That will go a long way for us to try to get into the tournament.”

Oklahoma comes into the game with a 2-8-3 overall record and a 0-1-2 mark in conference play, which is a couple points above Iowa State’s 0-3-0.

Wins are worth three points in the standings while ties only nab teams one point, so Iowa State is most certainly within striking distance.

“[Friday’s] important because it’s toward the middle of the Big 12 season,” said forward Klasey Medelberg. “If we can get a couple wins this weekend, it’s really going to help us going into the [back] end of the season.”

Oklahoma this season has tied Baylor and Texas, two teams Iowa State was neck and neck with up to the final whistle.

Its only other Big 12 game was a 4-1 loss to Oklahoma State.

The Cyclones will go up against the Sooners without any sort of momentum. The team has lost each of its first three Big 12 games and currently poses a 2-9-1 record.

The team has been plagued with injuries throughout the season, putting a sizable hole in its strategy.

“We are really good for 60 to 70 minutes of the game, but we always have a lull,” Minatta said. “One thing that’s always helped us in past years was subbing. [When you] keep getting hurt, players that you’ve built up to give you those 10 or 20 minutes, we keep losing them.”

The players Minatta is referring to are Abigail Harbin and Tegan Alexander. Both appeared in each of the two road games the team played in Texas a week ago, giving Iowa State a solid spark off the bench.

However, both players got concussions this week and won’t be available to play.

The team will take the field Friday against Oklahoma at 7 p.m. and then play its second game of the weekend Sunday against Oklahoma State at noon.

“At the end of the day, you just have to keep knocking on the door and keep fighting,” Minatta said. “We have the team that can do it. It’s just the matter of closing out the full 90.”