The ISU women’s soccer team will take the field for the final time this season Friday when it takes on Texas Tech. Although the Cyclones are already out of playoff contention, they’re still playing for something.

The focus will be two-fold for ISU head coach Tony Minatta, who said he wants to send his two seniors off on a high note and also wants his younger players to gain some experience and momentum going into the offseason.

“We need to honor the seniors by going out and playing the best that we can to give them opportunity to walk away with their heads held high in their last game,” Minatta said.

The two seniors, Haley Albert and Lindsay Frank, will walk off the field at the Cyclone Sports Complex for the final time, and it’s important to the underclassmen to send them off the right way.

“We want the seniors to go out on a good win,” said sophomore Sasha Stinson. “We want to show them how big of a difference they made and that they’ve helped us a lot, so it’s important for us to play like they deserve us to play.”

Besides ending the seniors’ careers on a positive note, the Cyclones also have turned an eye towards next season. Not qualifying for postseason play this season has left the Cyclones with plenty of motivation.

Minatta said many players are already talking about the offseason and what steps they have to take to improve for the following year.

“The mindset is to build a foundation for our games next year and figure ourselves out,” Stinson said.

Minatta hopes to see what his younger players can do in the final game of their season as a way to gain a better idea of what his team has going into the offseason.

While missing out on the postseason is never the desired outcome, Minatta said that even though his young team struggled this season he his optimistic for the future.

“I’m really excited about where we are going,” Minatta said.

Before they get there, though, there is one final game left on the schedule. Minatta wants his team to show some consistency after a highly inconsistent year. 

The Big 12 schedule has delivered especially erratic play from the Cyclones, who have played well at times and have been blown out at other times.

More than anything, Minatta said he wants to see his team put forth maximum effort in its final game of the season. The team has struggled to put together a full 90-minute game, and Minatta hopes to see that change.

“[I’m hopeful] we’re able to put together a full game like we did against Texas in this last game,” Minatta said. “Regardless of the result, I’ll be happy and I’ll know that [the ISU players] can walk off the field being satisfied with the effort they gave.”

The soccer team takes on Texas Tech at 7 p.m. Friday at the Cyclone Sports Complex.