Wyoming women’s head soccer coach Josh Purdum led the program to its first-ever victory over a nationally ranked opponent. His team took down Utah State, ranked 11th in the nation. Up to this point, the Cowgirls had dropped 16 straight games against ranked opponents. Finally, they have found a victory to tally into the win column against nationally ranked teams, and it’s an impressive conference win as well.
“I challenged our seniors to come out and put the game on their back [and] to get the group to believe they’re the team to beat. Today, we showed a version of that,” Purdum said in a Wyoming athletics press release.
It was his homegrown seniors who pulled through and made the pair of goals that won the Cowgirls the contest as well. Rock Springs native Alyssa Bedard and Lander native Maddi Chance were responsible for both goals en route to a 2-0 shutout over Utah State. The Cowgirls’ goalkeeper Haley Bartel’s shutout performance was equally as crucial in the victory, as Utah State entered the contest with the second-most total goals scored in the nation this season.
Unfortunately, the Cowgirls couldn’t follow up their big upset with another win, as Boise State would roll out of Laramie with a 2-1 victory over the Cowgirls in their last contest on Oct. 13. Purdum, after his team’s big upset victory, stressed the importance of stringing wins together and finding consistency, something that the Cowgirls have struggled with so far this season and couldn’t make happen against Boise State.
“We’ve put some good performances together. We are trying to find that consistency,” Purdum also said in the press release.
The Cowgirls have been unable to gather more than two wins in a row, as their record currently sits at 4-5-5 on the season, and 2-2-2 in Mountain West play. Their conference record sets them in sixth place in the Mountain West. They will have to remain in the top six of the conference if they want to compete in the Mountain West championship tournament in November.
To stay up in the standings, they’ll have to hold off both Nevada and UNLV on the road this weekend, as wins over both those teams will prove to be huge for the Cowgirls as both those opponents are currently above the Cowgirls in the standings.
The Cowgirls’ road swing will begin on Thursday, Oct. 17 in Reno when they take on the University of Nevada.
