LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming soccer team earned four points in two Mountain West Conference matches during its final home stand of the regular season, drawing 1-1 with New Mexico on Thursday before defeating UTEP 2-0 on Sunday at the Madrid Sports Complex.
The results moved the Cowgirls to 11-3-1 overall and 4-1-1 in conference play, giving them 13 points in the Mountain West standings.
Thursday’s match against New Mexico was moved indoors to the Indoor Practice Facility after an overnight snowstorm delayed kickoff by four and a half hours. Wyoming took an early lead but conceded a goal in the final minutes to finish with a 1-1 draw.
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Erin Dahl scored her second goal of the season in the 15th minute, firing a shot from distance to put the Cowgirls ahead. Wyoming maintained the lead until Celina Frenz scored off a pass from Presley Devey in the 89th minute, equalizing with 80 seconds remaining.
“It’s a fair result, to be honest,” head coach Josh Purdum said. “Both teams were pretty aggressive in the attack and sharp defensively. There were a lot of good battles in the middle of the field. With the spacing of the field being tight, you will see more direct play, and both teams did well to adjust to each other. It’s a fair result.”
Both teams recorded 13 shots. New Mexico put eight shots on target, while Wyoming had six shots on goal. Isabel Vasco led the Cowgirls with three shots, and goalkeeper Haley Bartel made seven saves. New Mexico goalkeeper Alyson Campbell recorded five saves.
The Cowgirls returned to the field Sunday and used a strong second half to secure the victory over UTEP. Wyoming scored twice after halftime, improving to 4-1-1 in conference play, while the Miners fell to 8-4-3 overall and 2-4-0 in league action.
“We finished the half with some good energy and had some momentum towards goal, and that’s what we commented on at halftime,” Purdum said. “As long as we matched that, we’d set ourselves up for some success. We got end line a couple times, got a corner, had a shot on goal and the momentum was ours the rest of the match.”
Alyssa Glover helped Wyoming break through in the 57th minute, delivering a corner kick that Lauren Westwood headed into the net for her second goal of the season.
Glover also assisted on the Cowgirls’ second goal, joining Vasco in setting up Kiley Ballek’s score in the 82nd minute. It was Ballek’s first goal of the season and gave Wyoming 12 different goal scorers this year.
The assist brought Glover to 68 career points, one shy of the program record.
Bartel made six saves against UTEP to record her eighth shutout of the season and 26th career clean sheet, extending her program record to seven more than the next closest total.
Wyoming finished with a 15-13 advantage in shots, with 11 different Cowgirls recording at least one attempt. UTEP goalkeeper Savanah Finley made six saves while allowing two goals.
The Cowgirls return to the road Saturday to face Colorado College at 5 p.m. at Stewart Field.
