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LARAMIE, Wyo. – Cowgirl soccer defeated Southern Utah in its 2017 home opener, 3-1, at Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex on Friday evening.

The scoring opened up with an impressive header from senior forward Alisha Bass. Senior defender Tristan Tyrrell played a floating ball perfectly to the far post, where Bass rose above her defender and headed the ball just over the hands of Southern Utah goalkeeper Kaitlyn Caldera and under the crossbar. The Cowgirls would keep their 1-0 lead going into the intermission.

It took less than six minutes into the second half for Wyoming to double its lead. Junior defender Taylor Burton lined up a free kick from near midfield, looking to find a teammate inside the box. Instead, the ball flew just over the outstretched hands of Caldera and bounced into the back of the net.  

Exactly six minutes after Burton's goal, junior forward Brittney Stark added her name to the list of UW goal scorers. A deflected pass landed at her feet inside the 18-yard box. She turned and slid a shot under the Southern Utah keeper to extend Wyoming's lead to 3-0, her second goal of the season.

Southern Utah managed to get one goal back with less than seven minutes to play. Junior defender MaKenzie Lawrence found a loose ball in the box after senior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree came off her line and put away the opportunity to put the Thunderbirds on the board. The Cowgirls prevented the Thunderbirds from putting another shot on goal and came away with the 3-1 victory.

"It's great to play most of our team and be able to rest certain players for Sunday, which is always what you want to be able to do with a Friday night game," head coach Pete Cuadrado said. "It's never easy to get a win and I thought Southern Utah had a lot of fight in them. Bass's goal was one of the nicest goals I've seen in a long time. We know she can do that, but that was one of her better ones. Now getting to play Kentucky on the road, we know we have our hands full but we're going there as a business trip and looking to get a result."

Rowntree, along with Burton and senior defender Claire Parker, played all 90 minutes of the contest. Freshman defender Molly Kuhbacher and sophomore midfielder Talia Sclafani each made their Cowgirl debuts on Friday. Bass led all players with two shots on goal.

Kick-off against the Kentucky Wildcats is set for 11 a.m. MT on Sunday. Live video of Sunday's match will be available through the link above prior to kick-off. Live stats will also be available at the link above, and follow @wyo_soccer for updates.