Cyclones To Battle Iowa, Purdue On The Pitch

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State soccer team (1-1) is set to take on a pair of Big Ten opponents on the pitch this week. Iowa State will battle Iowa (2-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Iowa City in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk rivalry game. The Cyclones will then host their home opener on Sunday at 1 p.m. vs. Purdue (2-0).

The Iowa State vs. Iowa game will be broadcast live by BTN+, while the home match vs. Purdue will be on Cyclones.tv. Admission to Sunday's home opener is free to all fans.

CYCLONE HEADLINES
1. The Cyclones are coming off a 1-1 weekend on their West Coast swing, falling 3-0 to No. 4 UCLA in the season opener before bouncing back for a 1-0 victory at UC Irvine on Sunday.

2. A pair of freshmen connected for Iowa State's thrilling game-winning goal against the Anteaters. In the 69th minute, newcomer Mira Emma played a beautiful through ball over top of the UC Irvine back line, and speedy redshirt freshman Kenady Adams timed her run perfectly to earn a one-on-one opportunity against the goalkeeper. Adams buried her first career goal in the back of the net to lift ISU to victory.

3. Sunday's goal was a continuation of the offensive prowess displayed by the Cyclone youngsters in exhibition action, when freshmen tallied five of Iowa State's six total goals in wins over UNI (4-0) and Drake (2-0).

4. The center back position once again looks to be a strength for the Cyclones in 2019. Sophomore Taylor Bee and senior Carly Langhurst have impressed with their play early on, serving as anchors for the ISU defense. Bee and Langhurst were the lone field players to play the full 90 minutes in Iowa State's first two contests.

5. Junior goalkeeper Dayja Schwichtenberg tallied the fifth shutout of her career with two saves vs. UC Irvine. Schwichtenberg now has three shutouts in her last four regular season appearances after ending 2018 by holding Oklahoma State and Kansas State scoreless in back-to-back matches.

6. Schwichtenberg, a 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).

7. UCLA was Iowa State's first opponent ranked in the top-5 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll since Oct. 18, 2015, when the Cyclones faced No. 3 West Virginia. UCLA was also the highest-ranked non-conference foe Iowa State has faced since playing No. 3 Stanford on Sep. 15, 2013.

8. The 2019 Cyclones are a young squad, with 21 of 31 players on the roster being underclassmen, including 11 true freshmen. Thus far, six different freshmen have seen 50+ minutes of game action through two contests.

9. The Cyclones are scheduled to play six matches this season against teams currently ranked in the United Soccer Coaches 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES
For complete game notes, click here.

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Players Mentioned

Kenady Adams

Taylor Bee

Marin Daniel

Mira Emma

Kassi Ginther

Carly Langhurst

Courtney Powell

Dayja Schwichtenberg

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics