Cyclones Build Toward 2009

AMES, Iowa?Record crowds turned out to see the Iowa State soccer team in 2008, and the Cyclones are building a program looking to send their fans home happy consistently.

After the Cyclones finished their first three home matches of 2008, ISU had rewritten the attendance records. The 929 fans that saw Iowa State battle Missouri Sept. 26 stands as the largest home crowd in the history of the program. The match barely eclipsed the previous two crowds of 2008. The contest against Iowa on Sept. 21 drew 884 while the season home debut versus Drake Sept. 19 had 892. The previous record was 724 for a Sept. 8, 2000, match against Iowa.

2008 Season Photo Album

Photo Album

First-year head coach Wendy Dillinger was impressed with the backing the squad received.

“The support was amazing,” Dillinger said. “It is awesome to see the community and everybody supporting us. It gives the kids more value and one more reason to push and fight.”

The Cyclones provided their home faithful with perhaps the team's best performance of the season, a draw against then-league leading and 12th-ranked Colorado Oct. 19.

“Throughout the season we definitely made progress,” Dillinger said. “The tie against Colorado was the big highlight of the year and the fact we had a chance to win that game at the end on a breakaway was encouraging.”

Additionally, ISU had a nice midseason run, where the Cyclones won four out of five matches and outscored their opposition 12-5 in the process.

The Cyclones have reason to believe they can provide displays like they did against Colorado on a regular basis. At the top of Dillinger's lists for optimism is this season's freshman class that has already begun work for its sophomore campaign.

“They are a great group all the way around,” she said. “They are good teammates and a tight-knit group. Their attitude and focus on soccer and in the classroom is great. They want to put the team first and it is something we can build off.”

Dillinger also points to the team having a better understanding of what she expects before and during the season as a hurdle the side will not have overcome in her second campaign.

“It was a big learning and growing experience, especially for our upperclassmen,” Dillinger said. “Going through a preseason and a regular season with us, the team knows what to expect and how fit and strong they need to be.”

The Cyclones' season was hampered by injuries best illustrated in the season finale against Nebraska. ISU had only three healthy field players on its bench. And statistics echo the health issues. The Cyclones lost five games in which they led, dropped five matches by one goal and conceded nearly twice the number of goals in the second half as the first.

“We didn't have a big roster to begin with and then to be out five, six, seven players really made a difference,” Dillinger said. “We weren't deep enough and it definitely took a toll."

Iowa State University Athletics

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