Air Force Opens MWC Play Hosting Wyoming
9/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 29, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Wyoming Cowgirls (5-4-2) vs. Air Force Falcons (2-8-1)
Friday, Oct. 2, 5 p.m. @ Cadet Soccer Stadium - USAFA, Colo.
Air Force Opens MWC Play Hosting Wyoming
The Air Force women's soccer team opens Mountain West Conference play, hosting Wyoming this Friday, Oct. 2. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available for the match.
Last Week
Air Force dropped a pair of road matches last week at San Jose State and Pacific. The Falcons lost 4-0 at San Jose State last Friday and 3-0 at Pacific on Sunday.
Falcon Leaders
Freshman midfielder Stephanie Patterson leads the team with five points and three assists. Sophomore forward Kelly Bieber and Murphy are tied for the team lead with two goals scored. Freshman Charity Blanton has played 831 minutes in front of the net for the Falcons, and has 41 saves on the season to go with a 1.95 goals-allowed average. Sophomore Ariana Green has logged 180 minutes and has a 2.00 GAA to go with 11 saves.
One of Nation's Youngest Teams Air Force has one of the youngest women's soccer teams in the nation, as 24 of the 28 players on the roster are underclassmen. Air Force has just two seniors and two juniors and have 12 freshmen and sophomores. Air Force has started at least eight underclassmen in every game.
Team Captains
Seniors Susan Finch and Kelsey Yip are team captains for the 2009 season. Both are three-year letterwinners.
Scouting The Opponent
Wyoming enters the weekend with a 5-4-2 record after falling to Gonzaga, 2-0, and defeating UC Riverside, 1-0, last weekend. Freshmen carmen Blume and Olivia Mohtadi are tied for the team lead with six points. Freshman Courtney Merkle has a 0.82 GAA in all 985 minutes at goalkeeper, to go with 55 saves.
The Coaches
Larry Friend is in his first year as the head coach at Air Force. The 1985 USAFA grad. has 12 years of assistant coaching experience at the Academy. He is just the second women's soccer head coach at Air Force.
Danny Sanchez is 13-14-3 in his second year at Wyoming. A 1991 UConn grad., Sanchez is 332-66-22 in his 16th year as a head coach.
Opponent Connections
- Wyoming has eight players on its roster from Colorado.
- Wyoming senior midfielder Emily Layton is a Colorado Springs native and attended Palmer High School.
Series History vs. Opponent
- Wyoming leads the series, 7-6. The Cowgirls have won six in a row in the series.
Up Next
Air Force hits the road for a pair of conference matches next week. The Falcons play TCU on Thursday, Oct. 8, with a 11:30 a.m. kickoff. Air Force is then at New Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 10, with a 5 p.m. start.
