LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Drake women's soccer team kicked-off its 2026 season on Thursday afternoon on the road against the Wyoming Cowgirls and suffered a 1-0 loss from the Madrid Sports Complex.
In the first 45 minutes of action the Bulldogs looked to gain their footing in the first game of the year, but were outshot by a mark of 9-2. Both of Drake's shots came on target but caused little worry in Wyoming goalkeeper Haley Bartel.
A significant moment came in the 38th minute when Drake defender
Alanna Pennington was booked for her second yellow card disqualifying her for the rest of the match and forced the Bulldogs to play a player down the rest of the way. Despite Drake being a player down, the two sides went into the half deadlocked at 0-0.
As the action resumed in the second half, the offense was still hard to come by for Drake. With the Cowgirls having a player advantage, however, they were able to get 10 shots away in the second 45 minutes, compared to a pair of shots for the Bulldogs.
It was ultimately the last shot of the game that mattered the most, however. With just 13 seconds remaining Wyoming played for one last ball into the Drake defending zone and caught goalkeeper
Addie Ford out of position. This let Alyssa Glover take one touch around Ford for a wide-open goal securing the win for Wyoming.
"Today's game was a great matchup, but when we went down a player it was the ultimate test," Drake head coach
Lindsey Horner said. "Obviously the travel, altitude, and being outnumbered our players had to roll up their sleeves and work incredibly hard. It's so unfortunate we couldn't see the game out but the grit and discipline our players demonstrated today was remarkable. Our next two games don't get any easier, but these games are all about learning about ourselves and we learned a lot today."
Drake senior defender
Zoey Mahoney led the team in shots with two in the game.
Lena Muller and
Kamryn Wray each recorded a shot as well for the Bulldogs. Ford, meanwhile, made four saves in net.
The Bulldogs return to action with another road match this Sunday, August 16, against Colorado College. Kickoff from Colorado Springs is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
