Cowgirl soccer falls to BYU

PROVO, Utah -- After a scoreless first half, the University of Wyoming Cowgirl soccer team fell to the BYU Cougars 2-0 on Saturday.

The Halloween match closed the regular season for the Cowgirls. UW has already clinched a spot in the Mountain West Conference Tournament that will begin next week.

The Cowgirls are 9-7-3 overall and 3-3-1 in the MWC. The ninth ranked Cougars advance to 16-2-2 overall and 6-0-1 in league play.

The two teams battled to a first half scoreless tie. BYU held the advantage in first half shots six to one. Freshman keeper Courtney Merkle made four saves to keep the score at zero going into halftime.

BYU struck at the 50:11 mark when Carlee Payne passed ahead to Kassidy Shumway for the first goal of the game. 13 minutes later the Cougars added their second goal of the day on a goal from Andrea Willis.

BYU goalkeeper McKinzie Olson made four saves in the game for her 10th shutout victory of 2009. UW’s Merkle made eight saves and fellow freshman Meagan Burke made one save in her 13 minutes of action.

The Cowgirls will return to Provo again Wednesday for the MWC Tournament. It will mark the first postseason appearance for Wyoming since 2007. The Cowgirls will wait for the completion of other MWC games so see who they will face.