Soccer Ready To Take On SDSU & UMKC

AMES, Iowa- The Iowa State Soccer team (1-3) is slated for a pair of matches this weekend, starting with a contest vs. South Dakota State (1-3) on Friday at 6 p.m. in Brookings, S.D. The Cyclones will then return home to take on the UMKC Kangaroos (2-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Friday's match will be streamed live with a subscription required on gojacks.com, while a free audio broadcast can be found here. Sunday's home match vs. UMKC will be available on Cyclones.tv.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State split a pair of contests a week ago, taking down North Dakota 1-0 in SDSU's home-opener before falling 1-0 to UMKC on Sunday. Marisa Schulz scored the game-winner against North Dakota, recording her first goal as a Jackrabbit in the 44th minute on an assist from Nicole Hatcher. SDSU had 20 total shots on the day.

SDSU's 20 shots against North Dakota Friday were the most by the program since Oct. 28, 2016 when the team first 26 against IUPUI. Last year, SDSU broke the 20-shot barrier three times. The Cyclones last played the Jacks on Aug. 21, 2016 in a 1-0 Iowa State win.

Scouting the Kangaroos
UMKC is coming off a successful home stand in which they scored victories over Illinois-Chicago and South Dakota State. The two wins have built momentum in the 'Roos' corner after opening the season with losses to Oral Roberts and Oklahoma State.

Defense has been phenomenal for the Roos of late with two consecutive shutouts and allowing South Dakota State to take just three shots in Sunday's contest. Lexie Howard, a junior midfielder/forward, put up five points with eight shots during UMKC's two wins last week to earn Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. Howard assisted the game winning goal against UIC and her penalty shot goal was the game winner over SDSU.

Cyclone Soccer Headlines
-The Cyclones are looking to bounce back from an 0-2 weekend in Iowa City their last time out. Iowa State opened the weekend with a heartbreaking overtime loss to Iowa on Friday, before falling to Minnesota on Sunday.

-Freshman Courtney Powell was a bright spot for the Cyclones despite the 0-2 weekend. Powell scored the first goal of her career on a break-away in the 58th minute of ISU's contest vs. Minnesota. Sophomore defender Carly Langhurst was also a standout, leading the Cyclones with three shots, including one on goal, in the overtime loss to Iowa. Her play on the backline was also exceptional in holding the Hawkeyes scoreless in regulation

-Junior defender Jordan Enga has been a stalwart on the Cyclone backline, having started all four games this season at center back, after tallying 10 starts in 2016. Enga ranks No. 2 on the team in minutes played this season with 345, second only to goalkeeper Dayja Schwichtenberg (367).

-Powell also provided strong minutes at the forward position and created good opportunities in ISU's 2-0 loss at Missouri, particularly in the last 25 minutes of the match. Powell led the team with four shots, including two on goal. She is one of five true freshmen to have played this season.

-The Cyclones opened the 2017 season with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Creighton at the Cyclone Sports Complex on Aug. 18. Iowa State scored all three of its goals in the second half to improve to 3-1 in season-openers under head coach Tony Minatta.

-Iowa State's goals vs. Creighton came from Brooke Tasker (49'), Merin Mundt (73') and Carly Langhurst (83'), as the Cyclones put the Bluejays away in the second half. Mundt tallied her goal and assisted on Langhurst's header, tallying three points in 35 minutes. Langhurst's goal to put the finishing touches on the ISU win was the first of her career.

-Tasker and the rest of Iowa State attack were relentless in the second stanza vs. Creighton, out-shooting the Bluejays 14-3 after the intermission. The redshirt junior led the attack with five shots, followed by three shots each for Kasey Opfer and Courtney Powell.

-Five true freshmen played in the win over Creighton, including Dayja Schwichtenberg, who got the start in goal. Schwichtenberg got the shutout win with two saves in the first collegiate action of her career. Abigail Harbin, McKenna Schultz, Kassi Ginther and Courtney Powell were the other freshmen to see game action.

-The Cyclones are set to face one of the nation's toughest schedules, with three games against teams ranked in the NSCAA top-7. Iowa State also holds the distinction of being the only team to play both of last year's NCAA finalists in West Virginia (preseason No. 1) and USC (preseason No. 3). Both games are on the road.

Follow Iowa State Soccer's Twitter account (@cycloneSCR) for live updates during the match. Results will be available on Cyclones.com after the conclusion of the game.

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Players Mentioned

Jordan Enga

Kassi Ginther

Abigail Harbin

Carly Langhurst

Merin Mundt

Kasey Opfer

Courtney Powell

McKenna Schultz

Dayja Schwichtenberg

Brooke Tasker

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