Completed Event: Soccer at Colorado on September 25, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 3
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Iowa State University Athletics
Friday, August 23
Los Angeles, Calif.
9:00 PM
Iowa State
at
UCLA
Cyclones To Face No. 4 UCLA, UC Irvine On Opening Weekend
08.22.2019 | Soccer
AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State soccer team is set to begin its 2019 season on a trip to the West Coast this weekend. The Cyclones will play their season-opener on Friday at No. 4 UCLA at 9 p.m. CT in a match set to be televised by Pac-12 Networks. Iowa State will then travel to Irvine, Calif., to battle UC Irvine on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.
CYCLONE HEADLINES
1. The No. 4 Bruins will be Iowa State's highest-ranked opponent, per the United Soccer Coaches Poll, since the Cyclones faced No. 3 West Virginia on Oct. 18, 2015. UCLA is also the highest-ranked non-conference foe Iowa State has faced since playing No. 3 Stanford on Sep. 15, 2013.
2. Both of this weekend's matches will be firsts, as Iowa State has never previously faced UCLA or UC Irvine on the pitch.
3. The Cyclones are looking to build on promising preseason showings in exhibition wins over UNI and Drake. Iowa State dispatched UNI by a score of 4-0 on Aug. 14, with ISU's promising freshman class providing all four goals in the outing (Kenady Adams, Claudia Najera, Eva Steckelberg and Mira Emma). Emma and senior Hannah Cade also tallied assists in the match.
4. Emma, a newcomer from Wheaton, Ill., continued to shine in ISU's 2-0 exhibition win vs. Drake. She played 52 minutes off the bench while leading the teams with two shots on frame, and a goal in the 42nd minute on a beautiful strike from well beyond the 18-yard box.
5. The 2019 Cyclones will be a young squad, with 21 of 31 players on the roster being underclassmen, including 11 true freshmen. Iowa State will be looking to replace a seven-player senior class that included all three 2018 team captains in Emily Steil, Riley Behan and Jordan Enga. Steil finished her career T-No. 7 among Iowa State's all-time assist leaders with 11.
6. The Cyclones are scheduled to play six matches this season against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches preseason top-25 poll, five of which will be road contests for Iowa State. The last time the Cyclones faced six or more ranked foes in the same season was 2008.
7. In 2018, Minatta led Iowa State to its second postseason bid in the last three years. He guided a battle-tested Cyclone squad to a strong finish, winning their final two conference matches, to lock in the bid to Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament. Iowa State played the 13th-toughest overall schedule in the nation last season, and the fourth-toughest regular season schedule, per the NCAA.
8. The Cyclones return 11 of 18 goals from a season ago, including the junior duo of Kassi Ginther and Courtney Powell. Ginther led the team and was T-No. 3 in the Big 12 in goals scored in conference play in 2018 with four, the most among league underclassmen. Ginther also ranked No. 2 on the team with nine points a season ago.
9. Senior Marin Daniel, a 2019 team captain, also returns after an outstanding junior campaign. The native of Johnston, Iowa, earned all-tournament honors at the Boilermaker Challenge Cup and played 90+ minutes in 19 of 20 matches, primarily at center back.
10. Powell, a junior from La Porte City, Iowa, notched three goals and an assist a season ago, and will be called upon to help replace the pace of graduated senior Klasey Medelberg from a season ago.
11. Junior goalkeeper Dayja Schwichtenberg returns after starting every match a season ago. Schwichtenberg notched back-to-back shutouts to end the regular season, giving her four in 2018. The native of Medina, Minn., spent all 1,875 available minutes between the posts last season for Iowa State and was the Big 12's regular season leader in saves (100) and saves per game (5.26).
12. A season-high 60 percent (594 of 989) of Iowa State's minutes in the 2018 regular season finale vs. Kansas State were played by underclassmen. Taylor Bee, Brooke Miller, McKenna Schultz and Schwichtenberg all played 90 minutes in the pivotal Cyclone win.
13. Ten of Iowa State's 18 goals in 2018 were scored by underclassmen, while 55.1 percent of Iowa State's total minutes were played by the freshman and sophomore contingent.
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COMPLETE GAME NOTES
For complete game notes, click here (PDF).
Players Mentioned
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