LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 13, 2019) – The Wyoming soccer team (5-4-4, 2-3-1 MW) suffered a 2-0 shutout against the Fresno State Bulldogs (6-4-2, 2-2-1 MW) on Sunday afternoon in Laramie.
 
Fresno State came out aggressive from the first whistle with two quick shots under two minutes that went wide. A shot by Tori Nicolo was blocked, the ball was bantered around the front of the net and reached Sydni Lunt who headed it past the goalie. Robyn McCarthy had the assist. Wyoming had a look at the 21:15 mark with a shot from redshirt freshman Jamie Tatum was saved by Valentina Vivas. The Bulldogs would respond with three more chances and one that connected to the back of the net. In the 28^th minute, Nicolo found a ball bouncing around the front of the goal and hit it past goalie Hannah Lee to make it 2-0.  The Cowgirls best chance came with 31:04 on the clock by Tatum whose shot hit the post left. Fresno State would head in to the lockeroom up 2-0. The Bulldogs had eight shots compared to three, while they had three corner kicks.
 
Out of the break, goalie Riley Furbush had an early test with a shot by Ele Avery that she scooped up. With 52:10 on the clock, a red card was given to senior Michaela Stark who went in for a shot against goalie Milena Zink. The Cowgirls would have to play with ten the remainder of the game. Tatum had another opportunity at the 55:22 mark that was saved again by Vivas. The Bulldogs responded with another pair of shots including a save by Furbush. UW had a three opportunities which they couldn't convert. Despite being outshot 6-4 in the half, Wyoming wouldn't concede another goal, but couldn't come up with a result. Furbush would be solid in goal with four saves in the half. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs would come away with the 2-0 victory.
 
"I didn't think we had a good start to the match today. We have quite a few young players on the field that need to pick up the system, execute game plans and we didn't do that," head coach Pete Cuadrado said. "The beginning of the second half, Michaela (Stark) picking up a red card, it's a tough pill to swallow in the moment. She felt it was a 50-50 ball and went after it, but with that being said I felt the final 40 minutes was good. We can't just play 45 minutes against a solid team like Fresno State. I think our effort is there, including in the second half today, even down a player. The problem is we need to be able to rely on the bench a little more. We need to play our best soccer from kickoff and that's something we need to improve upon."
 
Tatum finished the match with a match-high five shots with two of them on goal. Freshmen Keelie Wortmann and Hannah Hagen each had one shot apiece. Goalies Lee and Furbush played 45 minutes in net and had five total saves. Zink and Vivas shared time in goal for the Bulldogs. Wyoming ended up being outshot 14-7, while both teams combined for 19 fouls.
 
Wyoming is back on the pitch next weekend to close out its home schedule with two matches. The Cowgirls will host the league-leading Boise State Broncos on Friday followed by a Sunday contest against the Utah State Aggies. Friday's match is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT time while Sunday's match is set for 1 p.m.