Iowa State Opens Big 12 Play At Texas, Baylor

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State Soccer team (2-6-1) opens Big 12 play this weekend with a road trip to take on No. 17 Texas (8-0) and Baylor (6-1-1). The Cyclones are set to face the Longhorns, one of two teams nationally with a perfect record, on Friday at 7 p.m. in Austin, Texas. Iowa State then travels to Waco to face the Bears on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Friday's match will be broadcast live on the Longhorn Network and will be streamed here. Sunday's match vs. Baylor will be streamed on baylorbears.com here.

Scouting the Longhorns
Texas enters the weekend as one of two teams in the country with a perfect record at 8-0, including six wins at home. The Longhorns' impressive start to the season was highlighted by a 3-0 win over No. 25 Colorado in Austin. Texas, which started the season unranked, as vaulted to No. 17 nationally and boasts the third-best RPI in the country.

Sophomore forward Cyera Hintzen has been spectacular for UT so far this season, racking up four goals and four assists to lead the Longhorns in both categories. Hintzen was also named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19 after scoring her third game-winning goal of the season with a "golden goal" in the 98^th minute to defeat UTRGV.

Scouting the Bears
Baylor, which will face No. 5 West Virginia at home on Friday, is 6-1-1 entering this weekend with its only blemish coming in a 1-0 neutral-site loss to Washington. The Bears are coming off an excellent showing last Sunday, beating SMU 4-1 behind their second-best offensive performance of the season. In total, Baylor has outscored its nonconference opponents 14-3 this season.

Jackie Crowther has had a break-out junior season, leading Baylor in points with three goals and one assist. The native of Temecula, Calif. only saw action in 11 matches a season ago due to her role on Mexico's U-20 Women's World Cup team.

Cyclone Soccer Headlines
-Iowa State enters conference play with a battle-tested squad, now set to face a third-consecutive opponent ranked in the NSCAA top 25 nationally. The Cyclones battled No. 12 USC and No. 7 Florida in back-to-back matches to close out their non-conference slate, but were unable to pull off an upset.

-Their last time out, the Cyclones pushed the No. 7 Gators to the brink before falling 2-1 in overtime. Junior Klasey Medelberg gave Iowa State a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute on an assist from Hannah Cade and Merin Mundt before Florida found a second-half equalizer. UF's Deanne Rose scored a golden goal in the 96th minute to defeat ISU.

-Medelberg is now tied with freshman forward Courtney Powell with two goals each on the season. The junior has come on strong of late, and put tremendous pressure on the Florida back line. She fired off a career-high six shots in the match, including three on goal. Medelberg netted her first goal of the season in ISU's 2-1 loss at Cal State Fullerton on a beatiful strike from beyond the 18-yard box in the 90th minute.

-Junior defender Jordan Enga has been a stalwart for the Cyclones, having started every game this season at center back, after tallying 10 starts in 2016. Enga ranks No. 1 on the team in playing time with 821 of 836 possible minutes played so far this season. She has not been subbed out of a match since Aug. 21 vs. Minnesota.

-The Cyclones went 0-2 on their weekend trip to California, where Iowa State was clipped 2-1 by Cal State Fullerton, before a 2-0 loss to the defending national champion, No. 12 USC.

-The Trojans scored two goals in the opening 20 minutes of the Sunday match in Los Angeles before the Cyclones found their footing. After being out-shot 13-0 in the first half, the Cyclones narrowed the gap to just 8-7 in the second stanza and allowed just two opportunities on goal. ISU also out-cornered the Trojans 6-2 in the match.

-Iowa State is the only program in the country to play both of last year's national finalists (USC and West Virginia). Both of those matches are on the road.

-ISU has established itself as one of the youngest rotations in the Big 12, with freshmen Dayja Schwichtenberg, Courtney Powell, Kassi Ginther, Tavin Hays, Abigail Harbin, McKenna Schultz and Shea Sullivan all seeing action in 5+ matches. Schwichtenberg, Powell, Harbin and Schultz have all started matches for the Cyclones this season.

-Following a scoreless first half vs. UMKC on Sept. 3, an aggressive Iowa State side came out and controlled the second half. Freshman Courtney Powell eventually broke through with a goal in the 73rd minute, with an assist from Brooke Tasker to put Iowa State on the board.

-Emily Steil came through with her first goal of the season in the 76th minute vs. UMKC on a header off a cross from sophomore Hannah Cade, extending the Cyclone lead to 2-0.

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

Hannah Cade

Jordan Enga

Kassi Ginther

Abigail Harbin

Tavin Hays

Klasey Medelberg

Merin Mundt

Courtney Powell

McKenna Schultz

Dayja Schwichtenberg

Emily Steil

Brooke Tasker

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