Cowgirls Clinch Mountain West Tournament Berth with 1-0 Win over San Jose State

Wyoming records fourth shutout of season

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 20, 2013) – A goal by senior forward Lucie McDowell early in the second half proved to be the game winner and all the University of Wyoming women’s soccer team needed to defeat San Jose State 1-0, Sunday afternoon at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex. The Cowgirls not only earned their fourth shutout of the season but with the win, qualified for the Mountain West Conference tournament. The last time Wyoming played in the MW tournament was in 2011, falling to New Mexico 2-0 in the Championship match.

It was a slow start for both teams in the first half after a 25 minute delay to remove snow from the field. And wasn’t until the 46th minute that Wyoming (7-8-2, 4-2-1 MW) got on the board as junior forward Sara Paul fired a cross in from the left side to McDowell. Standing about 10 yards out, McDowell found an opening to push the ball past the Spartans’ keeper for what was McDowell’s eighth goal of the season. McDowell and Paul are the team leaders in goals and assists. McDowell has eight goals this year, as Paul has eight assists.

At the end of the first half, Wyoming held a 5-3 shot advantage being led by five different Cowgirls who each recorded a shot.  A physical defensive performance from Wyoming limited only three shots from the Spartans (2-13-1, 1-6-1 MW), none of which were on goal. Senior midfielder Liz O’Reilly, sophomore midfielder Mollee Ramsay, freshman defender Sammi Dunda, junior midfielder Sheree Small and Paul each recorded one shot apiece.

During the second stanza, much was the same for UW as the Cowgirls took eight shots compared to San Jose State’s five. Overall, Wyoming outshot the Spartans 13-8. Ramsay, junior defender Kristin Howard and McDowell led the way with two shots each.

Junior goalkeeper Alex Boehm recorded her fourth shutout of the season and second in a row for the first time in her career. She finished the game with three saves, all of which were late in the second half. Wyoming recorded four shutouts last season and six in 2011. San Jose State’s sophomore keeper Zoe Makrigiannis recorded five saves during the match, with three in the first half.

Boehm, Clarke, Howard and junior defender Kasey Curtis played all 90 minutes for the Cowgirls. All of whom played the entire match on Friday against Fresno State.

The Cowgirls will return to Mountain West action on Friday at Nevada. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT. Then on Sunday, Wyoming returns home for Senior Day and their final home match of the season against UNLV with a 1 p.m. MT kickoff at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex.

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