Cyclones Fall to Texas Tech

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State (4-3-2, 1-2-0 Big 12) dropped its second straight match Sunday afternoon, falling to Texas Tech (8-1-1, 2-0-1 Big 12) by a score of 2-0 to close the month of September.

After rattling off the program's longest winning streak since 2016, Iowa State has now dropped two in a row, as the Red Raiders set the tone early, scoring 20 seconds into the match. An insurance score in the 18th minute would put the finishing touch on things as TTU picked up a conference road win.

Megan Walters and Isabella Agrusso paced the Cyclone attack, each recording three shots. Walters saw two of her shots go on target, tied for a game high. Ella Zimmerman, Lauren Hernandez and Gili Johnson also registered shots on the day. In goal, Kasey Cannistraro pulled down five saves as she faced 22 attempts.

Five Red Raiders secured points on the afternoon, jump-started by Sam Courtwright, who scored just 20 seconds into the game off an assist by Kylie Bahr. 17 minutes later, Peyton Parsons secured her fifth score of the year as both Macy Blackburn and Kate Leibel picked up assists. Parsons, Courtwright, Taylor Zdrojewski and Skylar Haase tied for a game-high with three shots. In the net, TTU's Faith Nguyen tallied up her sixth clean sheet of the season with a pair of saves.

Texas Tech held both the shot (22-9) and corner kick (6-1) advantage, while the Cyclones held the edge in saves, 4-2.

How it Happened
The match started with a flash, as TTU took advantage of an early ISU turnover and sprang into the attack. Bahr crossed one into the box for Courtwright, who sent a left-footed shot to the back post to set the tone and put the Red Raiders up, 1-0.

The Cyclones responded to TTU's quick score by taking three shots in the next eight minutes. The Red Raiders were able to handle the Cyclone surge and suddenly found themselves back on the attack.

In the 18th minute, Tech added insurance, as Parsons headed one again to the back post off a feed from both Blackburn and Leibel to put the Red Raiders up by two.

The Cyclones were unable to register a shot in the final 27 minutes of the first half and would go into the break down two. At half, TTU held an 11-4 shot advantage and a 2-1 edge in corners.

The Red Raiders took three quick shots to open the second stanza, but were either off target in their attempts or handled by Cannistraro.

ISU was unable to crack the Tech defense, which had only given up two scores in its last five games, as it would go on to lose to the Red Raiders, 2-0.

Fannon's Thoughts
On how his team dealt with early adversity:
"The biggest thing that's hard is that you play and it's difficult to play through certain moments. In those spaces we've got to find a way to pull a solution out. As the game went on, we did a way better job individually of taking care of those moments."

Goals
Iowa State: N/A
Texas Tech: Sam Courtwright – 0:21 (3), Peyton Parsons – 17:42 (5)

Assists
Iowa State: N/A
Texas Tech: Kylie Bahr (2), Macy Blackburn (9), Kate Leibel (2)

Up Next
The Cyclones will hit the road for a two-pat Texas trip, facing both Baylor and TCU. ISU's southward swing begins next Thursday, Oct. 2, when it faces Baylor in Waco to kick off October. The Bears and Cyclones will face off at 7 pm and the contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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Team Stats

Isabella Agrusso

Megan Walters

Gili Johnson

Ella Zimmerman

Players Mentioned

Isabella Agrusso

Kasey Cannistraro

Lauren Hernandez

Gili Johnson

Megan Walters

Ella Zimmerman

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics