The University of Wyoming Cowgirls already have a record of four wins, one loss and are hoping to take that momentum into conference play.
“We’re really excited,” senior Taylor Burton said. “This is what you work for and we want to be in the top six of our conference, but hopefully we can be one of the top two so we can get a game off at the conference tournament.”
Burton scored the first home goal during regular time for the Cowgirls this past Sunday Sept. 9 against the University of Iowa. It was also her first goal of the season.
“Well Sekoya (Romero) worked hard to get into the box and got fouled,” Burton said. “That led to a PK, which we’ve worked on in practice, so it was just an easy little tap in. The hard work came from Sekoya for sure.”
Now that the Cowgirls are getting into the swing of things, they are confident and eager to start conference play.
“I think we’ve really built something that we can start getting better and better upon,” senior Annika Clayton said. “I think it has been a great non-conference start and it’s just got to continue throughout the season, where it really counts.”
While the Cowgirls do have a selection of strong upper-class players, they are still a relatively young team. However, having a young lineup has not held the Cowgirls back in any way.
“We’ve got plenty of seniors that have experience, but we’ve also got plenty of freshmen that have come in and offered something great,” Clayton said.
The Cowgirls have a total of 12 freshmen on their lineup. Most of them have seen playing time in these first few games and have made an impact on their teammates.
“There have honestly been quite a few freshmen that have stepped up,” Clayton said. “Savannah Warner in the back line looks like she’s been playing college soccer for the past four years. In our midfield we’ve got quite a few girls; Indianna (Asimus), Kennedy (Schomer) and Adalyn (Vergara), who have all come in and been playing a lot of minutes in the middle of the park, which is a tough position to come in to.”
On top of that the Cowgirls also have three freshmen playing forward due to injury. They have Caitlin Pickett playing center forward and Sekoya Romero and Amber Vokoun playing wings.
“Those three [Pickett, Romero, and Vokoun] have done a fantastic job coming in and really making an impact,” Clayton said.
As the season progresses and players start coming back from injury, those spots will become more and more competitive. The Cowgirls view this as good motivation to play at the top of their game, rather than compete against their teammates for a top spot.
“You expect big things from the entire team because we all want to win so bad,” Taylor Burton said. “The freshmen have come in and done a great job and the seniors all want those wins since it is our last year. I think everyone is capable of making important plays.”
The Cowgirls will kickoff conference play against San Diego State Friday, Sept. 21 in San Diego. The Cowgirls will not return home until Friday, Oct. 5 at 3 pm MST, where they will take on Colorado College.
