Cyclones To Host No. 13 Texas, No. 24 Baylor

Texas & Baylor Preview Graphic

CYCLONE NOTEBOOK
1. The Iowa State Soccer team (2-9-2, 0-2-1 Big 12) is set to face a pair of nationally-ranked Big 12 foes this weekend at the Cyclone Sports Complex. The Cyclones will battle No. 13 Texas (9-1-2, 1-1-1 Big 12) on Friday at 2 p.m., followed by a Sunday bout vs. No. 24 Baylor (9-4-0, 2-1-0 Big 12) at 1 p.m. Both matches will be televised live by Cyclones.tv.

2. Last time out, Iowa State fell at Kansas, 1-0, on Saturday at Rock Chalk Park. The Cyclones and Jayhawks were locked in a 0-0 draw until KU broke through in the 82nd minute, courtesy of Ceri Holland. Seven of Iowa State's nine losses this season have been in matches decided by a single goal.

3. The Cyclones earned a point during the opening weekend of Big 12 play during a road swing through Texas. ISU earned a 2-2 draw against TCU on Friday to open conference action before a 3-0 loss to Texas Tech in Lubbock on Sunday. The point earned vs. TCU could prove valuable, as the Cyclones missed a bid to the 2017 Big 12 Championship by just one point a year ago.

4. Midfielder Emily Steil is enjoying the best year of her career as a senior. The native of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., assisted on both of Iowa State's goals at TCU, making it the second multi-assist match of her career. Her 11 career assists are the most by an active Cyclone since 2013 (Emily Goldstein - 14), and currently place her at T-No. 7 on Iowa State's all-time list.

5. Not known as a prominent goal-scorer, Steil leads Iowa State with nine points on the year, and is tied for the team lead with two goals. Steil and her midfield parter Kasey Opfer, who also has two goals, have been dangerous in the air, consistently winning headers on set pieces for the Cyclones.

6. Klasey Medelberg (5') and Kassi Ginther (57') were Iowa State's goal-scorers on Friday at TCU. Medelberg's breakaway goal was her second of the season and team-leading 11th of her career. Ginther collected a ricochet at the far post off a Steil corner and put away the first goal of her collegiate career.

7. Sophomore goalkeeper Dayja Schwichtenberg was busy in the opening weekend of Big 12 action. Schwichtenberg set a new career high with eight saves on Friday at TCU and followed that up with another eight-save performance on Sunday at Texas Tech. Schwichtenberg has spent all 1,231 minutes between the posts this season for the Cyclones.

8. Due to injuries, as well as the emergence of talented underclassmen, head coach Tony Minatta has trotted out his youngest starting lineups of the season against TCU & Kansas. The Cyclone starting XI included six sophomores and a freshman in both matches.

SERIES vs. TEXAS
Friday's match at the Cyclone Sports Complex will be the 26th contest all-time between Texas and Iowa State. The Longhorns lead the all-time series with the Cyclones, 21-3-1, dating back to the inaugural 1996 season for the Iowa State soccer program. The first match, played in Ames on Sep. 29, 1996, ended in a 3-2 UT victory. The two programs have met on the pitch at least once each year since as conference foes.

Iowa State and Texas met last season on Sep. 22, 2017 at UT's Mike A. Myers Stadium in a 1-0 victory for the Longhorns. Haley Berg buried a 50^th minute goal in the back of the net from beyond the 18-yard box, and the Cyclones were unable to equalize despite a late offensive flurry.

Iowa State's last win over Texas came in 2016, when Tony Minatta's Cyclones scored a 2-0 Senior Night win behind goals from Hannah Cade and Taylor Wagner.

SERIES vs. BAYLOR
The Cyclones and Bears have met 23 times on the pitch prior to Sunday's battle at the Cyclone Sports Complex. The series dates back to Oct. 27, 1996, when Baylor took a decisive 2-0 victory in the final game of the ISU's 1996 season.

Baylor came out on top in last year's fixture, 1-0, thanks to a Lauren Piercy golden goal in the 96^th minute. The contest in Waco was one of eight overtime matches the Cyclones would play during the 2017 campaign.

The 2016 ISU-BU match also could not be resolved in 90 minutes, but it was Iowa State that broke through with a golden goal two years ago. Current Cyclone senior Klasey Medelberg, a sophomore at the time, notched the game-winning goal in the 102^nd minute off a Hannah Cade assist.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES
For complete game notes, click here (PDF).

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Players Mentioned

Hannah Cade

Kassi Ginther

Klasey Medelberg

Kasey Opfer

Dayja Schwichtenberg

Emily Steil

Taylor Wagner

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