Cowgirls Hit the Road to Face Bears

Wyoming soccer begins its second three-game road trip of 2016 this Tuesday in Greeley, Colo. against the Northern Colorado Bears. Kick-off from Jackson Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

Wyoming is coming off a thrilling 1-0 double-overtime victory last Friday, which saw junior defender Alisha Bass net the game-winning goal with just 10 seconds left in the game. The Cowgirls held Utah Valley scoreless for the first time in 2016, earning junior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors. Bass’ header was her first goal of the season and fourth game-winning goal of her career.

Wyoming owns the second-best record in the MW at 4-2-1, and still rank near the top of the conference in several statistical categories. The Cowgirls averages the most shots per game (16.43) and is tied for the fourth-most goals per game (1.71) in the MW. Corner kicks continue to be a strength for Wyoming, now with a conference-best 48 attempts. San Jose State is second in corner kicks earned with 33.

On the defensive end, the Cowgirls own the third-lowest goals-against average at 0.94. Wyoming’s seven goals allowed are the fewest among the five MW teams to play seven games this season. Junior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree is one of just two conference goalkeepers to record multiple shutouts this season, and her goals-against average of 0.95 ranks fourth in the MW. Rowntree and junior defender Alisha Bass lead the team in minutes with 662 and 621, respectively.

“Northern Colorado always brings its A-game against us, and we expect Tuesday to be no different,” head coach Pete Cuadrado said. “I think we’re playing really well right now, and we just need to continue to make improvements. We also need to keep doing what we do well, which is solid, physical defending.”

Northern Colorado returns seven starters and 13 letterwinners from last year’s NCAA Tournament squad. The Bears finished the season at 13-8-2 and second in the Big Sky Conference with a 7-2-1 mark. Northern Colorado earned an NCAA Tournament berth after defeating Idaho in penalty kicks in the Big Sky Championship.

The Bears are 3-3-1 on the year and return home after consecutive road losses to Grand Canyon and Denver. Northern Colorado is undefeated at home this year, with a 2-0-0 record, and against Mountain West foes, at a mark of 2-0-1.

Midfielder Mariel Gutierrez returns for her sophomore season after earning Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, as well as Big Sky All-Tournament team honors, a season ago. Gutierrez leads the Bears in goals (3) and assists (2) in 2016.

Wyoming leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 8-4-2. The last matchup in Greeley went 110 minutes and resulted in a 0-0 tie on Sept. 19, 2014.

Live stats of Tuesday’s game are available at the link above. Follow the Cowgirls on Twitter (@WYOSOCCER) for live updates throughout the match.

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Rowntree Earns MW Defensive POTW Honors

Wyoming junior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree earned Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors, the conference announced Monday.

Rowntree recorded a season-high seven saves against the Wolverines, tallying her third shutout of 2016, in Wyoming’s 1-0 overtime thriller on Friday. The victory also marked Rowntree’s first 110-minute shutout of her career.

The Sydney, Australia native owns a season goals-against average of 0.95, the fourth-best mark in the MW, and is one of just two conference goalkeepers to log at least three shutouts. Starting all seven games of the season, Rowntree leads Wyoming in minutes this season with 662, and currently holds a streak of 175+ minutes without conceding a goal. Monday’s selection is the first Player of the Week honor of Rowntree’s career.

Cowgirls Win Last-Second Overtime Thriller

LARAMIE – Wyoming senior defender Sammi Dunda sent a corner into the box with just seconds left on the clock Friday afternoon, which found the foot of junior defender Alisha Bass. Through a crowd of Utah Valley Wolverines, Bass found a way to put the ball in the net to give Wyoming the overtime victory, 1-0.

Gusting winds slowed play down on Friday afternoon, but both teams managed to create goal-scoring opportunities throughout the match. For 109 minutes, none of those opportunities produced a goal. Utah State (4-2-0) led the Cowgirls in shots, 16 to 7, and shots on goal, 7-5, but failed to put any of their attempts away. Wyoming’s (4-2-1) final shot proved to be the game-winner, and the latest goal scored by the Cowgirls this season.

“Really proud of the team. It was a total team effort and they really battled,” head coach Pete Cuadrado said. “It’s an extremely tough Utah Valley team. They’ve defeated UNLV and Oklahoma, so we knew our hands would be full. Credit to our team for I thought they hung in there all game. We got that corner kick with about 20 seconds left and made it count. It feels really good.”

Bass’s goal with ten seconds left on the clock marks the Cowgirls’ third goal from a corner kick this season. Utah Valley is the third opponent that junior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree and the Wyoming defense have shut out in 2016. Junior forward Shaina Ashouri led the Cowgirls in shots for the third-consecutive game, tallying three attempts. Dunda now leads Wyoming in assists with two. Rowntree, Bass and junior defender Claire Parker each logged a complete 110 minutes of action.  

“We are a pretty dangerous team on our dead balls and the team feels confident. It was great for Alisha (Bass) to get a chance like that, thankfully she was left open in the box and made the most of the opportunity. We spend a good amount of time practicing corner kicks, so we feel we can make them every time.”

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