WACO, Texas (Aug. 20, 2017) – Wyoming women’s soccer fell to the Baylor Bears on Sunday evening in its first match of the 2017 season. The Cowgirls forced overtime on a goal from redshirt junior forward Brittney Stark, but Baylor netted the game-winner in the 100th minute.

The Bears scored the first goal of the game in the 16th minute when junior forward Jackie Crowther connected on a pass from senior midfielder Aline De Lima. Just seven minutes later Stark found the equalizer for Wyoming’s first goal of the season and the first of her Cowgirl career. The score would remain 1-1 at the intermission.

Nothing could separate the two teams in the second frame, forcing overtime. Less than 10 minutes in the first extra period, Baylor notched the game-winner on another pass from De Lima. This time freshman midfielder Ally Henderson was the player to find the back of the net to seal the game for Baylor.

“I thought we showed a lot of heart out there, and it stings to lose the way we did,” head coach Pete Cuadrado said. “It’s a tough loss but I’m proud of how the team played. We’ve been working hard in training and a lot of players got minutes tonight in order to stay fresh in the heat. It’s tough because I thought we played really hard but we had chances and you have to finish them against teams like Baylor.”

Stark fired off three shots in the game, putting each on goal. Senior forward Alisha Bass recorded the only other shot on goal for UW. Junior defender Taylor Burton was the only field player for the Cowgirls to play in all 99 minutes of Sunday’s game. Senior goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree also played every minute of the match, recording seven saves.

A list of Cowgirls made their first appearances wearing the Brown and Gold on Sunday. Along with Brittney Stark, junior forward Jemma House, junior midfielder Morgan McDougal, freshman defender Elaine Webber, freshman forward Madison Barrick and redshirt freshman midfielder Carlee Martin all earned minutes for the first time in their UW careers.  

The Cowgirls will next face Southern Utah in their home-opener this Friday at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex. Kick-off is set for 4:30 p.m. MT.