Cyclones Drop First Big 12 Road Contest

Thursday, September 24

Houston, Texas

7 p.m.

Iowa State

4-4-2, 0-2-0

Houston

6-1-3, 2-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Iowa St.	1	0	1
Houston	0	2	2

Photo by: Houston Athletics

Cyclones Drop First Big 12 Road Contest

09.24.2026 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (.pdf)

HOUSTON – Searching for its first Big 12 win of the season in the conference road opener, Iowa State (4-4-2, 0-2 Big 12) came up short Thursday evening in Space City as it fell to Houston (6-1-3, 2-0 Big 12) by a score of 2-1.

The Cyclones held the early momentum, taking a 1-0 lead roughly 20 minutes into the first half thanks to a brilliant redirected header from Lucy Froitzheim who netted her first score of the season. Houston's attack came alive after the break though, punching a pair through the Cyclone defense in the second half to earn the win.

Both Froitzheim and Morgan Goodman each had a pair of shots, tying for the team lead. Froitzheim's goal was her first of the season and second of her career and came off a pair of assists from Erin Hopewell and Sophie Forrester. For Hopewell, it was her second assist of the year while being Forrester's first. Eme McClenahan was again solid in net, collecting seven saves.

For Houston, both Bailey Cate and Ava Shannon were tied for a game high in shots with four apiece. Cate, along with Laney Gonzales, accounted for the team's scores. Gonzales also tallied an assist on Cate's goal as she recorded a game-high three points on the evening. In net, Sierra McCluer had one save in her 90 minutes of action.

Houston outshot the Cyclones 21-5 on the night, holding a distinct 17-2 shot edge in the second half. The Coogs placed nine shots on net to ISU's two and had the advantage in corner kicks too, 5-2. The Cyclones did have more saves than UH, gathering seven to Houston's one.

How it Happened
It was a slow start for each side, as there was just one combined shot through the first 15 minutes of action.

The Cyclones started to build some momentum at the 17-minute mark, rattling off a pair of shots that were solid looks but both ending up going off target. Their persistence paid off though, as Froitzheim headed in a go-ahead goal with 17:54 on the clock.

Only three more shots were attempted in the first stanza, all coming from Houston and each going either off target or getting blocked. The Cyclones would take their 1-0 lead into the break, trailing in total shots 3-4 and corners 0-2.

Coming out of the break, Goodman tried to provide an immediate spark as she had a look in the 49^th minute only to see it blocked. From there, though, it was all Cougars.

A barrage of attempts soon followed, with one finally beating McClenahan at the 67:57 mark. A corner kick from Gonzales snuck past a missed front-post clear to equalize things for Houston.

Not five minutes later did UH take the lead, as a Cate runout beat McClenahan and put the Coogs on top, 2-1. Trailing by one, ISU was held without an attempt for the final 18 minutes of action as it went on to lose its first Big 12 road game of the year.

Fannon's Thoughts
"We had a 15-minute spell in the second half where we invited pressure by being too passive. That and a couple of really puzzling decisions are the difference in these tight games."

Goals
Iowa State: Lucy Froitzheim – 17:54 (1)
Houston: Laney Gonzales – 67:57 (1), Bailey Cate – 72:54 (6)

Assists
Iowa State: Erin Hopewell (2), Sophie Forrester (1)
Houston: Laney Gonzales (4)

Next Up
Iowa State will be back in action this Sunday, Sept. 27, when it returns to the Cyclone Sports Complex to host No. 10 West Virginia. ISU and WVU will square off at noon and the contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.