LARAMIE, Wyoming (8/7/26) – The University of Wyoming soccer team kicks off its 2026 season on Sunday. The Cowgirls host Denver in an exhibition beginning at 1 p.m. at the Madrid Sports Complex.

Wyoming is fresh off a 2025 campaign that was a mixed bag at 7-6-6 overall and 2-4-4 (10 points) in Mountain West Conference play. The Pokes logged one of their biggest wins in program history, winning at No. 15 Georgia, 1-0, but didn't qualify for the conference tournament, tying for 10th in the final standings.

Eight starters return from last year's squad. Couple that with it being Year 3 of head coach Josh Purdum's tenure, and expectations are present in Laramie this fall.

"Year 3 is all about execution," Purdum said. "There's going to be a huge emphasis on mental framework and how we go about performance, how we talk about performance and how we prepare for performance."

The Cowgirls were stout defensively last season. Goalkeeper, Haley Bartel, boasted eight shutouts, which was the third-most in a single season in program history, and owned a league-best GAA of 0.89.

Wyoming's offensive numbers were a tad troublesome. While Alyssa Glover tallied a conference-best 11 scores in 2025, the rest of the team only managed eight goals.

"We want to accomplish a level of consistency where our foundation is based on these strengths," Purdum said. "Now it's all about executing those strengths and closing the gap on the things we need to improve on, which is scoring goals."

Aforementioned Bartel and Glover are two of the eight returning starters. The other six include Kiley Ballek, Maddie Burr, Alisa Bunn, Erin Dahl, Hadley Linder and Jennah Wanner. Bartel, Glover and Burr were all named to the conference's preseason Watch List.

Speaking of preseason, the Coaches' Poll tabbed Wyoming second in the league behind only Air Force with New Mexico rounding out the top three. The Falcons and Lobos are the only two returning conference members who made the six-team conference tournament last season. That number in 2026 is reduced to four.  

Sunday's opponent, Denver, finished last season as the co-regular-season champion of the Summit League, finishing at 9-5-4 overall and 6-1-1 in conference. The Pioneers moved to the West Coast Conference ahead of this season and were picked seventh in the preseason poll.

Following Sunday's match, Wyoming opens the regular season on Thursday. The Cowgirls host Drake at 4 p.m. at the Madrid Sports Complex.