Final Box
HASTINGS, Neb. - Cowgirl soccer earned a 1-0 victory over
South Dakota State in its lone exhibition match of the 2017 season on Friday at
Lloyd Wilson Field. Freshman forward Grace Collins scored the only goal of the
game.
Wyoming soccer
contributed a complete team effort against the Jackrabbits, with every member
of the roster logging at least 25 minutes of action. Sophomore goalkeeper Cristina Salazar played 32 minutes in net, while senior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree played 31 minutes and freshman goalkeeper Riley Furbush earned 27
minutes. None of the three was forced to make a save. Junior defender Jessie Gentle logged 68 minutes, the most of any Cowgirl.
Junior forward
Brittney Stark fired off three shots in the first half, putting one on frame,
but Wyoming could not manage to put one in the back of the net. Meanwhile, the
defense held South Dakota State to zero shots on goal.
It took just 13
minutes of play in the second frame for the Cowgirls to put a goal on the
board. Junior Jemma House pushed the ball down the right side and won a series
of 50-50 challenges that allowed her to make a pass straight across the
six-yard box. Collins was there waiting and redirected the pass past SDSU's
goalkeeper Taylor Lock for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
"Today was a total team
effort with everybody on the roster getting quite a bit of minutes, so I thought
that was a good thing," head coach Pete Cuadrado said. "A lot of good things
led to the goal but there were still a lot of things that we need to correct
this early in the season. This is just a start and we have plenty to clean up,
but it's never easy to get a result in the preseason so it's a good start."
Senior forward Alisha Bass and freshman forward Madison Barrick also recorded shots on goal. The
Cowgirl defense prevented the Jackrabbits from connecting on a single shot.
The Cowgirls will travel
to Waco, Texas, for their season-opening match against the Baylor Bears next
Sunday, Aug. 20. Kick-off from Betty Lou Mays Field is slated for 5 p.m. MT.
