Bears lose tough one in Laramie

LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Northern Colorado women's soccer team lost another heartbreaker Sunday afternoon, as the Bears fell 2-1 in double-overtime on the road to the rival Cowgirls of Wyoming.

The Bears (4-6-2, 1-0 Big Sky) are no strangers to late-game drama. Earlier in the season, they fell to Denver in double-overtime and gave up a goal in the final seconds of a 1-0 loss to New Mexico State.

Wyoming (8-4-2, 1-0 Mountain West) got the game-winner in the 107th minute of play when freshmen Sara Paul scored her second goal of the match. Paul received a pass from Lucie McDowell and beat Bears' goalkeeper Kirstin Salminen in a one-on-one situation to give the Cowgirls the win.

"I thought we came out a little flat in the first half," Northern Colorado coach Tim Barrera said. "But we picked it up in the second half and got a good goal from JJ (Wykstra) off a corner.

"It was a back and forth game, but Kirstin (Salminen) really kept us in it with a couple of big-time plays. We had some chances on goal in the first overtime. In the second, we got caught once and that was that."

After a 30 minute lightning delay forced kickoff back, Paul, a forward from Calgary, Canada, put Wyoming up early after scoring in just the ninth minute. Her fifth goal of the season came unassisted after she stole the ball from the Bears' backline and put a shot into the lower-corner of the net.

The Cowgirls held the 1-0 advantage through the rest of the half. They tried to tack on to the lead several times, outshooting the Bears 9-3 in the half, but Salminen made four saves in the first 45 minutes to keep the game close.

Less than six minutes into the second half, junior JJ Wykstra pulled Northern Colorado even with her team-leading third score of the year. The midfielder's goal came off a corner-kick that found Wykstra's head and then the back of the net. Alexsys Tamayo earned credit for the assist and made it two games in a row with at least a point.

The Bears will not play another non-conference game until the last game of the season (Nebraska-Omaha). Next up, is a pair of home games against Weber State and Idaho State on Oct. 7 and 9, respectively.