A solid second half against the defending national champions has given the Iowa State women’s soccer team confidence heading into a clash with No. 7 Florida.

The Cyclones may have lost both games on their California trip, but in both games the second half performances were encouraging. The Cyclones held USC scoreless, created a handful of chances and scored a goal late against Cal State Fullerton as well.

Junior defender Jordan Enga is confident the Cyclones can build on the USC game. 

“I think we learned a lot from the USC game, we played Florida last year so we know how to prepare,” Enga said. “We gained a lot of confidence in the second half [against USC], and to continue that against Florida would be beneficial for the Big 12 season.”

It has become a trend for the Cyclones to start slow this season, with only one of their seven goals coming in the first half. Coach Tony Minatta is determined to get the team playing 90 minutes of soccer without any lulls.

“We played toe-to-toe with USC, in the second half especially,” Minatta said. “It shows the quality we have. At the same time, everybody recognizes that we have to do that for 90 minutes.”

“It’s a matter of trying different things until something clicks.”

Forced lineup changes can be expected again this Sunday, after senior right back Sasha Stinson got injured against Cal State Fullerton. As of right now, there is no confirmation that the injury is season ending. Junior Riley Behan will start at right back in her place.

Injuries to key players at inopportune times have been a common occurrence for the Cyclones this year. If Stinson is in fact out for the season, she would be the fourth Cyclone to miss significant time. Sophomore midfielder Marin Daniel, sophomore midfielder/center back Carly Langhurst, and senior goalkeeper Lindsey Hendon have all missed time due to injury. 

Minatta said that injuries make it difficult to build consistency in the team.

“It’s tough, because we did lose Sasha [Stinson],” Minatta said. “So you lose a four-year starter, and now you have to re-adjust again, and it seems like we’re always adjusting our lineup because of people getting injured.” 

Florida represents Iowa State’s last chance to find some form before Big 12 Conference play begins next weekend. 

The Gators have been off for almost two weeks due to the impact of Hurricane Irma, which cancelled games last weekend against Florida State and South Florida. Still, The Gators are a tough opponent. 5-1 on the season so far, Florida has only given up four goals in six games.

The Gators have lined up in variations of a 3-4-3 and 4-2-3-1 this year, and their main calling card is attacking soccer. They’ve accumulated 37 corners through six games and have only conceded 13 to opponents. The Gators represent the perfect opponent for Minatta’s brand of defensively stable, counter-attacking football predicated on limiting opportunities.

If the Cyclones can put together 90 minutes of good defense against Florida and limit chances, then confidence will be through the roof heading into a difficult Big 12 schedule.