LARAMIE – Cowgirl soccer will begin the 2026 season two hours earlier than anticipated.
 
That's fine with third-year Wyoming head coach Josh Purdum and the players champing at the bit to compete for a Mountain West championship.
 
Due to a forecast calling for lightning and rain, UW's opener against Drake has been moved to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Madrid Sports Complex.
 
"Ultimately, we want to make sure that we get the game in," Purdum said at Wednesday's fall sports media day event. "Both teams are excited to kick off the season."
 
The Cowgirls return eight starters, including the MW's reigning points leader in Alyssa Glover and stingiest goalkeeper in Haley Bartel.
 
Glover was a true freshman on the 2022 Cowgirl team that won the MW regular-season title and lost on penalty kicks in the conference tournament championship match.
 
"I think as far as chemistry, we have a lot of similarities," Glover said of comparing this team to that one. "But I think we also have a lot more depth this year than we did my freshman year."
 
Glover led the MW with 11 goals and 25 points last season. She has 19 goals at UW and can become the program's all-time leader with seven tallies this fall.
The fifth-year senior from Englewood, Colo., isn't thinking about breaking the record held by former teammate Jamie Tatum (25 goals, 2019-23).
 
"It's kind of just been about like what I can do to help this team eventually get a Mountain West championship at the end of the season," Glover said when asked about chasing the record. "I'm really just enjoying my last year here."
 
Bartel's 18 career shutouts rank second in UW history just behind Ashley Sheppard (19, 2004-07). She led the MW in goals-against average (0.89) last season while posting eight shutouts.
 
"If we have nothing else about our game, we have our defensive organization," Bartel said. "Having something as solid as that to fall back on and using that to maybe reset our energy, reset our possession, I think that always is a strong suit for us to fall back because we're so good in our defensive organization 1-to-11 across the field."
 
Over the last two seasons under Purdum, the Cowgirls have leaned on their defensive prowess and fearless keeper to topple big-name opponents, including No. 3 BYU (1-0, exhibition) and No. 11 Utah State (2-0) in 2024 and No. 15 Georgia (1-0) in 2025.
 
Glover set a program record with six game-winning goals. The Cowgirls believe they have more firepower in the attack this season.
 
"I think we were top of the conference in terms of shots produced, top of the conference in terms of corners produced, which means we're progressing the ball up the field, we're playing a nice brand of soccer," Purdum said. "We're getting forward, we're aggressive, but we need to put the ball in the back of the net. So, this year's all about execution, making sure we're putting more chances away."
 
Kiley Ballek, the third team captain alongside Glover and Bartel, was second on the team with three goals last season. Senior Alisa Bunn scored in the 86^th minute in UW's 1-0 victory over Denver in an exhibition match Sunday.
 
"We've added a lot of depth up top this year, so I think that'll help open up more space for myself and other forwards up there," Glover said. "It really bodes well for our team that we have a lot of people that want to have the opportunity in front of goal and are willing to take their chances up there."
 
The Cowgirls were 5-1-1 to start the 2025 season and ascended to No. 68 in the RPI before a disappointing 2-4-4 finish in conference play.
 
Before competing for a MW crown – UW was picked second in the preseason coaches' poll – the team will navigate a challenging non-conference slate that includes a marquee home game against South Carolina (Aug. 27) and an early Border War at Colorado State (Sept. 17).
 
"Oh my gosh, it will still be as bloody, just as ruthless," Bartel said of the rivalry with the Rams, who are now members of the Pac-12. "I was glad that we still kept them on the schedule. I mean, I figured there's no way we wouldn't, but to see them and have that game be right before conference, I think that's the perfect place to just set the tone going into conference when games matter."
 
UW opens MW play at Nevada (Sept. 24) and at UC Davis (Oct. 3) before its first home conference game against San Jose State (Oct. 7). Preseason favorite Air Force visits on Nov. 1 before the regular-season finale against Hawaii on Nov. 7 at the Madrid Sports Complex.
 
The top four teams advance to the conference tournament.
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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