LARAMIE, Wyo. (10/12/23) – The University of Wyoming soccer team needed points going into its match against Air Force. The Cowgirls are in need of a late-season push and that began with needing a result inside the Indoor Practice Facility on Thursday.

A late goal from Jazi Barela made that a reality. She netted Wyoming's lone goal in the 76th minute, as the Cowgirls drew with Air Force, 1-1.

"The belief and the buy-in was huge today," head coach Colleen Corbin said. "I felt like everyone made a difference. I'm proud of them today."

The result pushed Wyoming to 5-6-4 overall and 1-5-1 (4 points) in Mountain West Conference play. Air Force moves to 5-7-2 overall and 2-3-2 (8 points) in league.

A couple victories are still required for the Cowgirls to vault their way back into conference tournament contention. The top six in the final standings are awarded a spot in the postseason, and with four games to go urgency is needed from Wyoming.

"We've talked about selling our souls to the soccer gods the next two weeks," Corbin said. "We have to do everything in our power to control our destiny, and that's all we can do. "We have to keep showing up. We have to keep playing for each other. We have to keep buying into our identity."

As for Thursday's match, Wyoming created a good amount of scoring opportunities. They fired 15 shots, Air Force had 18, however, eight of those Cowgirl shots were on target as opposed to just six for the Falcons.

"Air Force plays an unorthodox formation, so we tinkered and played around with some stuff, and I felt like it was super effective," Corbin said.  

Air Force got on the board first in the 14th minute. The Falcons' leading scorer, Mia Otero, netted a goal, unassisted, that gave her team the early edge.

It remained that way until Barela. He fourth goal of the season, this one assisted on by Nikayla Copenhaver, gave the game its final tally.

Wyoming goalkeeper, Miyuki Schoyen, was credited with five saves, while her counterpart, Sydney Davis, made seven. Alyssa Bedard, Alyssa Glover and Jamie Tatum paced the Cowgirls with three shots apiece.

Wyoming is back in action Sunday. The Cowgirls host Colorado College at 1 p.m. at the Madrid Sports Complex.