Cyclones and Bears Draw in Regular Season Finale

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State and Baylor played to a 1-1 draw Friday evening at the Cyclone Soccer Complex. The draw ends Iowa State's season, while the Bears will advance to the Big 12 Championship.

The Cyclones (3-9-6, 1-5-4 Big 12) raced out to a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the match thanks to a goal from Lauren Hernandez, but a late score from the Bears would even things up. Baylor (7-7-5, 2-5-4 Big 12) earned its fourth draw of the conference slate, pushing the team to 10 conference points and securing the team a spot in KC.

Ella Ciardullo led the Cyclones in shots on the night, as the junior fired three attempts Baylor's way, placing two on goal. Morgan Furmaniak, Hernandez, Sophia Thomas and Magdalena Keck each had a pair of shots on the evening. Isabella Agrusso, Ella Zimmerman, Hernandez and Adelaide Wolfe would play the entire 90 in the field for ISU. Avery Gillahan collected six saves on the night, running her season total to 96.

Baylor's Skye Leach had the team's lone goal, firing one in in the 85^th minute of play. Bears forward Tyler Isgrig had eight shots, the most by any IUS opponent this season, placing three on net. Baylor keeper Azul Alvarez had three saves, allowing one goal.

Baylor outshot the Cyclones by one, 17-16, and held a 7-6 shot on goal advantage. The Bears also held the edge in corners, 7-4, while the Cyclones totaled more saves, 6-5.

How it Happened
In what would prove to be its final match of the season, Iowa State came out and scored its earliest goal of the year, as Lauren Hernandez took a Chloe Broughton shot attempt rebound and buried it in the fifth minute to give Iowa State the early one-nil lead.

Knowing they had work to do, Baylor's Tyler Isgrig started making it her job to put pressure on the Cyclones. Following the ISU goal, Isgrig fired five shots in the next 20 minutes of action to spearhead the Bear attack.

Despite the early score, ISU didn't rest on its laurels, as it continued to pepper the Baylor defense with attempts. The Cyclones would go into the half with a 1-0 lead, holding the shot advantage 9-7.

Iowa State came out in the second half feeling confident and continuing its strong offensive performance, possessing the ball for the majority of the beginning of the half.

ISU's high-intensity play style caught up to it a bit in the second stanza, as the team was assessed three yellows during that time.

As the clock wound down, ISU looked to be in prime position to earn the win and points which would place it in Kansas City for the Big 12 postseason. However, a Baylor rebound was corralled by Skye Leach just outside the box and, after a bit of dribbling, she fired one in past Gillahan, earning her first career goal and tying the match.

The Cyclones began to press the attack again following the Baylor goal knowing that they needed to win to be in to the postseason. Baylor was perfectly content from there playing to tie, and that's just what happened as the two teams walked away deadlocked at one apiece.

Fannon's Thoughts
"It was a really interesting game and tactical piece that I think that we got right. We knew that they were going to try and stretch us out and I think we defended incredibly well. To be able to put ourselves in a space where we were able to be ahead and continue to keep pushing for a goal … I was incredibly proud of our women and devastated for them in the result."

Goals
Iowa State: Lauren Hernandez – 5' (1)
Baylor: Skye Leach – 85' (1)

Assists
Iowa State: Chloe Broughton (2)
Baylor: N/A

Up Next
Iowa State heads into the offseason, where it will say goodbye to multiple contributors. ISU will be back in action in the spring for its spring slate of training and matches.

Team Stats

Lauren Hernandez

Chloe Broughton

Ella Ciardullo

Sophia Thomas

Players Mentioned

Isabella Agrusso

Chloe Broughton

Ella Ciardullo

Morgan Furmaniak

Avery Gillahan

Lauren Hernandez

Magdalena Keck

Sophia Thomas

Adelaide Wolfe

Ella Zimmerman

Players Mentioned

Isabella Agrusso

Chloe Broughton

Ella Ciardullo

Morgan Furmaniak

Avery Gillahan

Lauren Hernandez

Magdalena Keck

Sophia Thomas

Adelaide Wolfe

Ella Zimmerman

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