Cowgirl soccer has big weekend ahead

Richard Anderson photo

Wyoming senior Amanda Lathrop looks to control the ball against Air Force last week.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Although likely not intentionally, Danny Sanchez might have put it best as he basically paraphrased a recent popular quote by former NFL coach Dennis Green.

Evidently, the Cowgirls are what he thought they would be.

One game into his first Mountain West Conference soccer season, Sanchez will have a tough weekend ahead of him, as the Cowgirls host a strong TCU team on Friday (3 p.m.), before taking on a pesky New Mexico said on Sunday (noon). Both matches are at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex.

“Are we where we want to be? Right now, to be honest, I think we are where I thought we would be,” Sanchez said. “The whole spectrum of it, when I started last spring, through (Tuesday), has been great. They are working hard and they have bought in. It’s a day-to-day thing for us and every day we’re getting better.”

The Cowgirls, 1-0 in league play and 7-5-1 overall, will need to be at heir best against TCU, which beat New Mexico in its MWC opener 3-1 and is 9-1-1 overall.

“Their coach (Dan Abdalla) came over from UNLV and had a lot of success there,” Sanchez said. “It’s his fourth year; it had been a bit of a struggle, but now he has his first group of seniors and he now has a bunch of stud freshmen and sophomores carrying the torch right now. Their only loss is to the University of Texas, a Top 10 program, in overtime. Right now, you can put them with BYU as far as the teams to beat in the conference.”

Wyoming will have to turn around on Sunday and face a good New Mexico program as well.

“New Mexico is 5-3-4, but those results are playing at UCLA, which is ranked second in the country, tying San Diego and tying Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which were both in the Top 25 at the time,” Sanchez said. “It’s going to be a brutal conference. With three of our next four on the road, we have to get some results this weekend.”

While Sanchez is a newcomer to the MWC, he said there is no doubt that the conference is the strongest it has ever been from top of bottom.

“I hadn’t been in the conference, but I had been in the region and I know quality teams and I know some of the teams that have struggled in the past,” he said. “TCU was a sixth-place team in the conference last year and now they are probably the pre-season favorite one game in with their overall record and what they did to New Mexico last Sunday.”

The Cowgirls 1-0 win over Air Force last Friday was critical for the team as it looks to build some momentum, especially with three home games to open the conference season.

“For us, it was a must win. You hate to say it this early in the conference season, but it was a home game and we had to get results there,” Sanchez said. “Fortunately for us, we got the goal that we needed and we stayed tight defensively.”

The Cowgirls have relied on defense this season, especially with last year’s leading scorer, senior Tamika Wilson, hobbled with a knee injury. Wyoming has six shutouts this season and three games in which it has given up just one goal, meaning the Cowgirls have given up one goal or less in nine of their 13 games.

Offensively, senior Amanda Lathrop leads with seven goals, as the team has scored just 19 times in the 13 games, with seven of those coming against South Dakota State.

“I think we’ve made it a little difficult on ourselves,” Sanchez said. “Even last week, both 1-nil wins (Air Force, Boise State), but to be honest, we should have gotten that second goal and be able to relax a little bit. We need to be finishing, but we also need to stay tight defensively. Hopefully, we can and knock a few more in and be able to relax a little bit.”

Last week, Laine Hubbard, who ironically scored the lone goal of the 1-0 win over Air Force, was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Week. The Cowgirls gave up just four shots, two on goal against Air Force and no shots on goal against Boise State.

It has been a nice transition for Sanchez, who said his players have adapted well to not only him as a coach, but to his style of play.

“We talk about being professionals, as far as how we carry ourselves on and off the field,” Sanchez said. “They have bought in well and work hard. There are no attitudes. They are getting better every day. For me, it has been a nice transition.”