Iowa State soccer took down Iowa, 2-1, at the Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames Thursday night.

Two first-half goals from senior Jada Colbert propelled the Cyclones to their second win of the year.

While Iowa managed to create shots, outshooting Iowa State, 25-13, the Hawkeyes didn’t find the back of the net until the 85th minute, when fifth-year senior Hailey Rydberg scored a penalty kick.

Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni said his Hawkeyes played good soccer for the last 70 minutes of the game, but their slow start hurt them in the end.

“I don’t know why we’re slowly starting,” DiIanni said. “I don’t know why we’re not mentally prepared. But I thought we were chasing the game for the first 20-25 minutes, and unfortunately, it cost us two goals.”

DiIanni said slow starts have been an issue for the Hawkeyes this season, especially in their last three games. He added that the Hawkeyes will need to fix the issue before they play the Northern Iowa Panthers on Sunday.

“I think that we have to look at everything that’s going on in our program right now,” DiIanni said. “Whether it be how we’re preparing for opponents, or the psyche of our team before they come into games.”

Iowa State head coach Matt Fannon said he was happy with the way his team got after Iowa from the opening whistle.

“I think our women have just worked really hard on saying, ‘I’m going to get up and we’re going to do it,’” Fannon said. “They came out with so much energy, and they knew they wanted it. And the job now is to keep doing that and do it consistently.”

Big Picture

Thursday’s loss is another blemish on Iowa’s NCAA Tournament résumé, as Iowa State entered the contest 1-3-1. The Hawkeyes are now 2-3-2 on the season.

With just one game against Northern Iowa on Sunday standing between the Hawkeyes and the start of conference play, Iowa will have some things to correct before it hosts Wisconsin next Friday.

DiIanni said the string of slow starts, along with inconsistency on the parts of both the team and individual players, have been difficult to rectify.

On the positive side, DiIanni said Josie Durr is playing some of the best soccer of her career. He also complimented Cassidy Formanek, who played 60 minutes in her first game back from injury.

“Once we put her in the game, we didn’t give up a goal,” DiIanni said.

Colbert scores two

When Colbert wasn’t scoring goals, she was playing passes to teammates in dangerous areas and dribbling past Hawkeye defenders.

Fannon said Colbert, on top of being a great athlete, has grit and determination, which allow her to create scoring chances for Iowa State.

𝐂𝐲-𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲!

🌪⚽️🌪 pic.twitter.com/x3Ya8Asrf1

— Iowa State Soccer (@cycloneSCR) September 9, 2022

Cy-Hawk physicality

The Hawkeyes and Cyclones were making contact back and forth for the entire game Thursday. Iowa State and Iowa had 10 and seven fouls, respectively. Whether they were pushing, tripping, or football tackling, the game was chippy from the opening whistle.

Things came to a head in the 81st minute when Iowa State’s Mira Emma earned a yellow card for dropping Josie Durr from behind — even though Durr did not have the ball in her possession.

The booking was followed by Rielee Fetty clipping Iowa State’s Salome Prat in mid-air in the 84th minute. Fetty received a yellow card of her own for her actions.

Fannon said he didn’t have a problem with the game’s physicality — though he did notice a few occasions in the first half where he felt his team deserved penalty kicks.

“I think every referee does the best job that they can,” Fannon said. “I’m going to disagree with half of it. I’m sure Dave, their [Iowa’s] coach, disagreed with the other half of it. That’s part of the game, right? We can’t control that … but [referees] are just people like you and me trying to do the best we can with the job. So, I have nothing against what happened.”

DiIanni also said the officiating was inconsistent on both sides, with the official missing some foul calls in the first half. DiIanni added officiating didn’t have any bearing on the outcome of the game.

“I thought Iowa State had a better plan early on and we were slow adjusting to that,” DiIanni said.

Iowa State turnout

Nearly 1,000 fans showed up for the Cyclones’ first home game of the year.

The fans, combined with the Iowa State pep band, created a loud environment for the Hawkeyes to play in. Fannon said the crowd acted as a 12th man for the Cyclones.

“This is my first ever home Cy-Hawk game, and boy, it didn’t disappoint,” Fannon said. “The fans were incredible tonight.”

What’s Next

Iowa will travel to Cedar Falls to take on Northern Iowa Sunday.

UNI is 3-2-1 on the season and is coming off a pair of 3-0 losses to South Dakota State and St. Thomas (Minnesota).

The Hawkeyes have never lost to the Panthers, boasting a record of 14-0-0.

Iowa’s most recent non-exhibition match against UNI was played in August 2021. The Hawkeyes won the contest at home, 6-1.

The Hawkeyes will return to the Iowa Soccer Complex on Sept. 16 to kick off Big Ten play against Wisconsin.