AMES — During the matchup against Northern Colorado, Iowa State’s slow start led to its downfall during the second half, giving the Bears their first win of the season 1-0.
Although the Cyclones had multiple advantages and wins compared to Northern Colorado, the emotions were high during the celebratory senior day, ultimately leading to a lack of composure from the players.
Slow start in the first half plagues Iowa State
During the first half of the game, the matchup moved along slowly. Both teams needed to move against each other’s defense and be tedious with their attacks.
Iowa State’s offense seemed to be struggling, as they were not able to move the ball. The Bears’ defense was also incredibly aggressive during the match, blocking the Cyclones from making any offensive plays.
However, Northern Colorado was able to effectively pass Iowa State’s lacking defense and took six shots on goal compared to the Cyclones’ three. The first half ended with the Bears midfielder Anneliese Wong scoring her first goal of the season.
“I think we were just as bad as we could possibly be for the whole first half,” Iowa State head coach Matt Fannon said.
In hope of making a comeback, the Cyclones started the second half looking noticeably better. However, their hope visibly decreased throughout the period leading to them falling apart.
“We were significantly better, like a completely different team during the second half, but we dug ourselves a hole,” Fannon said.
Second-half momentum proves to not be enough
Starting the second half of the game on the right foot, Iowa State achieved greatness on offense. The Cyclones looked promising with a significantly higher amount of 12 shots on goal.
However, due to the slow start in the first half, Iowa State spent most of its time trying to catch up with Northern Colorado, even when the chasing seemed unattainable, the Cyclones started to slow down and show their lack of confidence.
“You can’t put yourself in a space where you’re scoring goals for the other team,” Fannon said. “Every bounce didn’t go our way but we also put ourselves in that space.”
The second half ended with Iowa State getting visibly frustrated against the Bears’ defense, ultimately giving up and becoming more aggressive, gaining two yellow cards and nine fouls.
“We were pretty unlucky in the second half to not get something,” Fannon said.
Making this their third loss of the season, the Cyclones hope to improve upon Sunday’s game to secure a win against Kansas.
“We got to be in a place where we understand what’s at stake and be in a space where we realize that we have the quality to win that game, we have the mentality to win it,” Fannon said. “We need to be able to go in and actually compete and actually play our game plan and get after the game.”
