Alyssa Glover has never not been in a big role on the Wyoming Cowgirl soccer team.
In her freshman campaign in 2022, Glover was an integral cog in the machine for a team that won a share of the regular season title in the Mountain West and eventually fell in the tournament championship game. Glover logged both a pair of assists and goals through the duration of the season, earning her a spot on the Mountain West Conference Newcomer Team.
“We all talk about how that team had so much heart, we won most of our games in the last 10 minutes in conference throughout that year,” Glover said of that season.
The following season was one filled with a buzz of excitement as much of that 2022 team–including Glover–returned to the pitch to attempt to finish what they had started a season ago. Things quickly fell apart, however, as the team only managed eight points in the league standings, establishing themselves 11th of 12 teams–interestingly enough just above San Jose State, the team they fell to in the league’s championship game the year before.
Despite that season falling short of expectations, Glover continued to improve her form as she contributed on a team-high 16 points on the season. Ahead of the 2024 season, Glover looked to be one of the top performers on a young team, led by a new first-year head coach, Josh Purdum.
That was until an unexpected injury snatched the season away from her in the first contest of the campaign.
“Nobody ever likes sitting on the sidelines and watching everybody play,” Glover said of the disappointment in watching the 2023 season from the sidelines.
So, Glover patiently recovered and awaited the moment she could return to the pitch. She watched all the highs and lows of Purdum’s first year at the helm, one that saw the Cowgirls earn their first win over a ranked opponent but still narrowly missed the Mountain West Championships by two points in the standings.
Glover could do nothing but watch as the 2024 season was disappointingly wrapped up with three ties in a row–if even one of those contests went into the Cowgirls’ favor, they would have a chance to play for the league championship. Regardless, the Cowgirls showed much potential in their first year under Purdum and with Glover returning to the fold this season, that potential grew exponentially.
“Once I was coming back, just rebuilding my confidence and trusting my abilities in and around the box to be able to create something,” Glover said.
And it didn’t take her long to get that confidence back.
Glover gets us on the board with a PK! pic.twitter.com/mCTgg4MxHt
— Wyoming Cowgirl Soccer (@wyosoccer) October 12, 2025
So far this season, Glover has scored or assisted on 11 of the Cowgirls’ 14 goals on the season. Her nine total scored goals this season isn’t far off from the school’s single-season record, which is 11.
Glover accomplished this en route to an incredible start in the non-conference, where the Cowgirls opened the season 5-2-2 with a road win over then 13th ranked Georgia. However, the Cowgirls’ scoring depth outside of Glover has reared its head in conference play, as the Cowgirls have fallen to 2-2-2 in league play so far, good for eight points and tied for second in the league.
While Purdum knows what Glover is capable of, he needs the teammates surrounding her to step up and assist the redshirt junior in finding the back of the net.
“We had a conversation that we can’t rely on her to be our only offense,” Purdum said. “We know Alyssa Glover can get it done, it’s just making sure we’re not [totally] relying on her.”
If the Cowgirls can find that depth outside of Glover and shore up their offense, this team is certainly capable of landing a spot in the Mountain West tournament amongst the top six teams in the league, just as they were able to the last time they made the tournament in 2022. Glover, for one, sees shades of that team in this one as well.
“That heart is coming out in this team,” Glover said.
“I truly do believe we’re capable of winning the [conference] tournament, making our first NCAA [tournament] appearance, but there’s definitely things that we’ve got to fix going forward. We’ve got to get more people scoring, more people threatening in and around the box.”
The Cowgirls only have four more contests remaining in their season, three of which are on the road. They will undoubtedly have to show the same level of grit and determination that the 2022 team had in order to put together a final push for the conference tournament in their final outings this year.
