Wyoming head women’s soccer coach Josh Purdum’s second stint in Mountain West league play was off to a less than ideal start.
Just a few weeks ago the Cowgirls were celebrating a three game winning streak, all of which were shutouts victories. The Cowgirls had downed the 13th ranked team in the nation, Georgia, on the road in that time and had screamed out to an incredible 5-1-1 start to the season.
That searing start to the season had all but screeched to a resounding halt as the Cowgirls had either lost or tied in each of their last six games heading into today’s contest against the Nevad Wolfpack. The Cowgirls have only scored two total goals in that stretch, both coming off the foot of Alyssa Glover–who had accounted for nine of the Cowgirls’ 11 goals on the season heading into their contest today, whether that be scoring or assisting.
Something had to change on that front in their contest against the Wolfpack–the Cowgirls needed their offense to emerge before it becomes too late.
Glover–as she has done all season long for the Cowgirls–paved the way to the best offensive performance the Cowgirls have displayed all season long as the Cowgirls swept away the Wolfpack 3-0, marking the second time the Cowgirls have eclipsed more than just one point scored in any given game this season.
Glover and company wasted little time in scoring that opening goal around the 17th minute. That goal had been building since the initial horn sounded, as the Cowgirls had put four shots on goal up to that point and Glover finally found the back of the net.
“We knew how important it was to get that first goal and then how important it was to build off of it,” Purdum said.
The Cowgirls kept the pressure on for the entire first half, keeping the Wolfpack on the backfoot as they barely invaded the Cowgirls’ half of the field. Glover scored again around the 36 minute mark and the Cowgirls found themselves up 2-0 heading into halftime.
“I think we did well to put them under pressure early and to make sure they didn’t get their head up to really see the field,” Purdum said of the Cowgirls’ dominant first half. “We did a great job of that, executing the details.”
The second half was no different as the Wolfpack still saw little success in their attack as the Cowgirls continued their onslaught, as Kylee Bliss Quilici Quain scored her first goal of the season en route to a 3-0 win, marking the Cowgirls’ first in league play.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“To be able to come out with three points today is going to put us in a really good spot going forward, especially with two more home games coming up,” Glover said about the win.
The Cowgirls dominated in every facet of the game and hassled the Wolfpack’s goalie, Mia Collins, all afternoon. The Cowgirls finished 23 shots with 14 of those coming on goal–compared to the Wolfpack’s eight shots, with just one in reach of the goal.
The Cowgirls earned all three points towards the conference standings with the win, giving them a necessary foothold after only earning a single point from a tie with UNLV earlier in the week, which had served as their only points in the standings to that point.
Through four games the Cowgirls are deadlocked in the midst of six other teams on five points–but have a big chance with two more upcoming home games, as Glover mentioned. Those two games come against two teams below them in the standings, so wins in both of those contests feel almost like a necessity.
“You look at last year and you’re not going to get in [the conference tournament] with the amount of ties, right? You need to get wins and you need to get those points. It’s extremely important.” Purdum said.
While the offensive performance the Cowgirls managed against the Wolfpack was promising, The message from Purdum is clear: somebody else has to step up. If they want to keep themselves in position to make the top six in the league to advance to the championship tournament, the Cowgirls need more players to step up–and for Glover to keep her immaculate form.
“We know Alyssa Glover can get it done, it’s just making sure we’re not relying on her,” Purdum said.
The Cowgirls will take on Air Force at home in their next outing, with the game set to kick off October 9 at 3 p.m.
