Kansas State soccer saw its first two road conference games last week, dropping both in contests against West Virginia and Cincinnati.

The Wildcats, with a record of 3-6-1, started their two-game road trip Sept.19 at West Virginia, losing 2-0.

K-State played well in the opening half but a late first-half goal plagued what could have been a good start for the Wildcats.

“I just think we had a pretty solid first half. We gave up a goal late that was an unlucky bounce,” head coach Mike Dibbini said in a statement from K-State Athletics. 

K-State wanted to enter half at least tied to give itself an advantage but ultimately didn’t meet the mark.

“We just couldn’t get it to half tied,” Dibbini said. “And so we couldn’t make those adjustments, and it’s hard at this level, when you’re down 1-0.”

Down 1-0, the offense couldn’t apply much pressure to help the defense get a break.

“We have got to be able to create a lot more offense, drive the ball into the box, some way, somehow, to give us more chances,” Dibbini said. “We are a little too passive on the attack. We have got to be better in the attack.”

K-State only had two shots on the day, with its lone shot on goal coming from midfielder Porter List. 

West Virginia was much more aggressive, totaling 17 shots with eight of them on goal and two of them finding the back of the net. 

“We can’t give up goals that break our momentum and stay positive and play with an attacking mindset,” Dibbini said.

On Sunday, Sept. 21 K-State had a chance to avenge its loss as they took on Cincinnati but lost 2-1 in a hard-fought battle.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime, K-State came out quickly and scored just 40 seconds into the second half with a goal by midfielder Paige Dickson. Forward Jo Sees had the assist on the goal which was her second assist on the season and third in her career. 

The goal was exactly what K-State needed at the time as it shifted the momentum — at least a little bit.

“I thought the momentum kept shifting back and forth. Whoever scored had the momentum for the next few moments,” Dibbini said. “We grabbed the momentum early in the second half, and then once they scored the second it broke our backs there for a little bit of time.”

That game-winning goal for Cincinnati came in the 68th minute and K-State wasn’t able to create any more chances to give themselves a chance.

K-State was outshot 15-3 on total shots and 7-2 on shots on goal and the minimal chances have become a problem for the Wildcats.

“It’s still not there for us with our shot count,” Dibbini said. “We have to take more risks in the attack. To give ourselves more luck and give us more opportunities than we did today with our two shots on goal.”

K-State returns home with a two-game homestand beginning Thursday night against Texas Tech.