Cyclones Fall to Gators, 5-2, in Season Opener

Friday, August 19

Gainesville, Fla.

6:00 PM

Iowa State

0-1

Florida

1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Iowa State	0	2	2
Florida	2	3	5

Cyclones Fall to Gators, 5-2, in Season Opener

08.19.2016 | Soccer

Box Score PDF Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Florida - The Iowa State soccer team opened up the 2016 season falling to the No. 7 Florida Gators, 5-2, Friday at James G. Pressly Stadium. Senior Koree Willer struck first for the Cyclones and Willer also assisted sophomore Klasey Medelberg with the second goal of the game for Iowa State.

Turning Point of the Game
In the 54th minute, the Cyclones were trailing 4-0 when Mia McAleer beat the Florida defense down the right sideline. McAleer put in a perfect cross that went off fellow Cyclone Emily Steil before finding the feet of Koree Willer. Willer was able to blast a shot past the Florida keeper. The Cyclones didn't stop there. In the 63rd minute, Willer stayed on the attack and put a perfect pass past the Gator backline and sophomore Klasey Medelberg used her pace to get to the ball first and she snuck it under the keeper to cut the Florida lead to 4-2. Florida's three-time All-American answered in the 68th minute to give them a 5-2 lead.

Cyclone Game Ball Goes to...
Koree Willer. The senior didn't back down and kept going at the Florida backline. Willer scored the Cyclones first goal and was the catalyst of the second goal when she made the perfect pass to Klasey Medelberg.

Coach Said It
"We competed hard in the first half and we created some good chances going forward," head coach Tony Minatta said. "At the end of the day, their quality showed and giving up that goal at the end of the half was tough. We came out in the second half and just didn't have the energy that we needed and a team like Florida will punish you for that. After we gave up that goal, some payers really stood up. Mia McAleer, Hannah Cade, Kourtney Camy and Emily Steil put their team on their back and really showed a lot of energy. Danielle Moore had a great second half. Their will and fight started coming out and we got two really nice goals out of it. We need to build off of that and really sustain that level for 90 minutes."

Game Notes
* Head coach Tony Minatta is 2-1 in season openers.
* Senior Koree Willer moves into sole possession of third in career goals with 21.

On Deck
Iowa State will close out the weekend by heading back home to take on South Dakota State at 2 p.m. at the Cyclone Sports Complex. The game will be aired live on Cyclones.tv. Fans can also follow Iowa State Soccer's Twitter account (@cycloneSCR) for live updates on the game. Results will be posted on Cyclones.com after the conclusion of the match.