Cowgirls soccer took two tough road losses over the weekend, knocking them into second place in the Mountain West conference.
“The travel this weekend was tough against two quality opponents,” said Cowgirls head coach Pete Cuadrado. “I think the [SDSU] game was a lot closer than the score indicated. I do think the team believes we can compete with SDSU and wants another shot at them.”
In Friday’s game, the Cowgirls fell to the San Diego State Aztecs 5-2; the two teams were tied for first place (7-1) in conference prior to the match.
In the first half, the Cowgirls played a tight game, outshooting the Aztecs 7-6.
The Aztecs took the first lead of the game in the 20th minute. Senior forward, Hannah Keane received the ball from freshman forward, Aliyah Utush, and sent it into the lower left corner of the net.
Wyoming quickly answered with a goal of their own, in the 30th minute. Freshman forward, Alisha Bass earned the assist with a pass to freshman forward, Candace Sciberras with a shot to the right corner of the goal from 15-yards out.
Minutes before the half, SDSU took the lead.
“We just had a tough break with an own goal when the game was one–one in the last minute of the first half and that really made us have to open up and chase the game,” Coach Cuadrado said. “I think we got a little unlucky, and that can’t happen when you are trying to knock off a top 25 program.”
The Aztecs took advantage of the lead and drilled in three more goals in the second half before the Cowgirls could lead the ball to the back of SDSU’s net.
The Cowgirls’ dry spell was broken in the 71st minute by senior defender, Alison Clarke. Clarke made the final goal of the game off a free kick from 25-yards out.
Over the 90 minutes the Cowgirls took 16 shots, 10 on goal. CLASS defender Kimmy Burbank who had four shots led the effort, one on goal, followed by Bass and freshman forward, Kaitlyn Lomsnes each with three shots.
The Aztecs had 20 shots over regulation, 14 of which came in the second half. Ten of their 20 shots were on goal.
Senior goalkeeper fro Wyoming Alex Bohem had five saves in her 90 minute stint at goal.
SDSU’s goalkeepers had a combined four saves.
Saturday the Cowgirls returned to play in Albuquerque, N.M., where they were defeated by the Lobos 2-1.
“We looked a little slow and a bit out of it on Sunday,” said Coach Cuadrado.
Right out of the gates, Wyoming’s freshman forward, Kayla Cryer created opportunities that proved fruitful, scoring in the fourth minute. Cryer earned her second goal of the season off a shot from 25-yards out.
Although the Lobos outshot the Cowgirls in the first half 12-4, Wyoming went into the second half with a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes into the second half, the Lobos were able to capitalize on one of their many opportunities created throughout the match, and put up the first point for New Mexico.
The Cowgirls rallied late into the second half to regain control of the game, but a shot from freshman forward Claire Lynch in the 86th minute gave the Lobos the win.
In total the Lobos outshot the Cowgirls 26-1, and 8-4 on goal.
“[We plan] to lock up the second seed and to execute our game plan. We want to get back to solid 1v1 defending, playing balls behind the defense and winning 50/50 battles,” said Coach Cuadrado looking towards Friday’s match. “We are excited to close out the regular season at home and send our seniors out on a high!”
Friday the Cowgirls will close out their regular season at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex against Colorado State. Kickoff will be at 3 p.m.
