The University of Wyoming soccer team begins its regular season Thursday night. The Cowgirls travel to Washington for an 8 p.m. match inside Husky Soccer Stadium.
Wyoming made a loud statement in its one and only exhibition game last week. The Cowgirls traveled to No. 3 BYU and walked away with a 1-0 victory, which will likely give them some wind beneath their wings in Seattle.
“Hopefully (the BYU game) increases the confidence,” head coach Josh Purdum said. “But again, we go against Washington, and I’m sure they’ll have a crowd there for their home opener, so we are pleased to have that (BYU) experience, but we want to be sure we are doing that every week.”
Gabby Clutter provided the offense in Provo. She scored in the late stages of the first half. Had it been a regular-season match it would have stood as her first-career goal.
Alyssa Glover – a 2024 Mountain West Conference Watch List honoree – paced the Cowgirls a season ago with six goals and four assists for 16 points, which ranked fifth in the league. Maddi Chance and Jazi Barela added five goals apiece.
Goalkeeper Haley Bartel also shined at BYU. She recorded a shutout, turning away nine shots from a team that hadn’t been shutout at home since Oct. 29 of the 2022 season.
Again, had it been a regular-season game that would have marked Bartel’s second-career shutout. She started eight games as a freshman and allowed 15 goals with 32 saves for a GAA of 1.88.
Alyssa Bedard – another member of the 2024 Mountain West Conference Watch List – Taylor Brook and Kylee Holstad round out the returning starters from a season ago. Wyoming was selected 11th in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll.
Washington won both of its exhibition matches. The Huskies defeated Eastern Washington on the road, 2-0, and toppled the University of British Columbia, 4-1, in Seattle.
Tatum Thomasen returns after leading Washington with six goals in 2023. Ioanna Papatheodorou owned a team-high 14 points last season, which included six assists.
This marks the first-ever meeting between the two squads. It also represents Wyoming’s first game against a Big 10 team since the fall 2021 season.
Following its trip to Seattle, Wyoming remains on the road. The Cowgirls travel to Colorado on Aug. 22 for a 7 p.m. match at Prentup Field.
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