LARAMIE, Wyo. (8/24/21) – The University of Wyoming soccer celebrated the sport's return to the fall season with a 2-1 victory over Colorado School of Mines last Friday. The Cowgirls will look to continue in its winning ways with a couple more home matches at the Madrid Sports Complex this week.

UW hosts a pair of top-tier Summit League foes. The Cowgirls battle Nebraska at Omaha Thursday at 4 p.m. before wrapping up its season-opening home stand with a game against South Dakota on Sunday at 1 p.m.

"I'm looking forward to playing two games," head coach Colleen Corbin said. "It's always fun to compete that many times within a short span."

The format closely mirrors the remainder of the season for the Cowgirls. Mountain West Conference play typically features matches Friday and Sunday, leaving teams with but one full day to recover, regroup and refocus.

"From a training standpoint, it's going to be really good for us to feel how it's going to feel going forward," Corbin said. "It will be good for us in terms of being able to play a match, learn from that match and have a day to prepare for the next opponent."

As alluded to, Wyoming began the season, and Corbin's head-coaching career, with a win over the Orediggers. That match required the Cowgirls to dig out of a 1-0 deficit with a pair of second-half goals.

Junior Faith Joiner tallied the first of those two goals in the 71^st minute. The go-ahead score was credited as an own goal for Mines just nine minutes later.

Sophomore Alyssa Bedard – who recorded a goal in an exhibition against Kansas State – provided the most offensive pressure. She registered four of Wyoming's 13 shots against the Orediggers, while Joiner and redshirt-junior Jamie Tatum logged three and two shots, respectively.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Alex Daws played big in net for UW. She recorded four saves in what was her first regular-season start in goal.

"There were a lot of things that played a role in that match, which is great for us moving forward because the goal is to be able to build from the things you've learned in the match prior," Corbin said. "Being able to take away so many positive things from that game, I think is really good for us going into Omaha on Thursday."

The Mavericks arrive in Laramie with a 1-1 record. Omaha defeated Northern Iowa 1-0 in its season opener at home before falling on the road to Kansas State 1-0.

Sophomore Emilie Erland owns the Mavericks' lone goal this season. Senior Avarie Howard lays claim to a team-high three shots.

Omaha entered this season following an 8-5-5 campaign during the 2021 spring slate. That garnered the Mavericks the No. 2 seed in their conference tournament and a top-100 RPI ranking, coming in at No. 97.

The Coyotes come to town Sunday after squaring off against Colorado State on Thursday. South Dakota enters its trip to the Front Range, sporting a 1-0 record, edging Northern State 1-0 in double overtime last week.

Sophomore Maliah Atkins boasted the game-winning goal against the Wolves. Fellow sophomore Ashby Johnston fired three shots in the victory.

The Coyotes went 9-7-1 during the spring season, earning the fourth and final seed in the conference tournament. South Dakota ended the season with an RPI ranking of No. 129.