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Laramie, Wyo. (Sept. 28, 2016) – Wyoming soccer squares off with a pair of Mountain West opponents at home this weekend. The Cowgirls will take on the UNLV Rebels on Friday at 4 p.m. MT before a matchup with the Nevada Wolf Pack at 12 p.m. on Sunday at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex.

Wyoming now owns a 4-5-1 overall mark and a 0-2-0 record in conference play after its opening weekend of MW competition. The Cowgirls have struggled to generate offense in recent games, failing to score in each of their last three losses.

UW returns to Laramie, looking for its first MW victory of the season. The Cowgirls have not lost at home in 2016, with a 2-0-1 record thus far. Under head coach Pete Cuadrado, Wyoming is 11-6-2 all-time in MW home games. In 2014, the Cowgirls went 5-0-0 at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex in conference competition.

The Cowgirls have not struggled to fire off shots this season, averaging 15.8 per game, the third-highest mark in the MW. UW’s 6.5 corner kicks per game still leads the conference, but the Cowgirls average just 1.20 goals per game. On the defensive end, Wyoming has allowed the fourth-fewest goals (12) in the MW. Junior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree currently holds the seventh-best goals-against average (1.16) and save percentage (.765) in the league. Senior defender Katie Marcheso remains UW’s leading scorer with three goals on the year.

“Right now we just have to control what we can,” head coach Pete Cuadrado said. “We’ll take it day by day, get better each day and fix some things. I thought we had long stretches where we played really well over the weekend. Now we have to translate that into results.”

UNLV concluded non-conference play with a record of 7-2-0, the best mark in the Mountain West. The Rebels continue MW play with a record of 1-1-0 after a loss to San Jose State in their conference opener and a win against Fresno State last Sunday. Two of the Rebels’ three losses have come on the road, including a 2-1 loss at Utah Valley, who the Cowgirls defeated earlier this month.

UNLV is strong in the attack this year, averaging a MW-best 17.9 shots per game. The Rebels’ 27 goals are six more than any other conference team, and their 25 assists are seven more than Utah State with 18. 

Senior forward Lily Sender leads the Rebels with a conference-best six goals in 2016. Sender and senior forward Susie Bernal lead the team with five assists each, which is tied for third-most in the Mountain West.

The Cowgirls are 5-12-3 all-time against the Rebels, but have only lost in one of the last five meetings with their conference foe. UW claimed the 2-1 road victory last season, and bested the Rebels, 3-0, in the most recent matchup in Laramie two years ago.

Nevada continues MW competition with a 4-5-0 record and a 1-1-0 conference mark after falling to San Jose State in its last outing. The Wolf Pack have been strong defensively, allowing only nine goals-against this season. However, their physical defense has led them to committing the second-most fouls (109) and amassing the most yellow cards (9) in the conference.

Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Quintos owns the second-best goals-against average in the MW at 0.99 and leads the league in saves per game with a 5.33 average. Sophomore forwards Angel Meriwether and Rylee Peterson lead the Wolf Pack with two goals each. The Wolf Pack will face Colorado State on Friday before squaring off with the Cowgirls on Sunday.

Sunday’s match will break the tie in the all-time series between UW and Nevada, which is locked at 2-2-1. The last time the Wolf Pack traveled to Laramie, in 2014, the Cowgirls picked up a dominant 4-0 win, their largest margin of victory that season.

The first 125 students in attendance on Friday will receive a Wyoming tumbler. A petting zoo will be inside the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex for Sunday’s match. The live stream of both matches will be available through GoWyo.com, and will also be available for viewing on the Mountain West Network at TheMW.com and on Campus Insiders at CampusInsiders.com. Live stats can be found at the links above. Follow the Cowgirls on Twitter (@WYOSOCCER) for live updates throughout each match.