STOCKTON, Calif. — The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team scored the most goals away from Albuquerque since 2009 as the Lobos used a second-half scoring barrage to defeat Pacific 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Knoles Field.
UNM (1-2-0) scored four second-half goals – three coming in the first 10 minutes of the half – to turn a 1-0 halftime advantage into a 4-1 lead before another goal in the 85th minute pushed the final score to 5-2 in a contest where four different Lobos found the back of the net.
It’s the most goals scored by the Lobos outside of Albuquerque since UNM defeated Illinois State 6-2 August 30, 2009, at the UNLV Tournament.
“I was really pleased that we found a way to win today,” UNM coach Heather Dyche said. “Pacific didn’t have a Friday game and we had a hard battle against Cal, so the team had to dig deep. Four different goal scorers is a real positive thing, so we will keep building from this.”
Jennifer Muñoz scored first for the Lobos when she took a corner kick from Katie Hinman and deposited it into the net for a 1-0 advantage over Pacific (0-2-0) in the 17th minute.
Other than that goal, the first half was relatively quiet – though UNM had seven shots (all on goal) while the Tigers took one shot (not on target).
Just two minutes into the second half, however, the fireworks started as a header for a goal by Jessie Hix made it 2-0 Lobos – starting a four-goal, seven-minute stretch in the contest.
Pacific answered with a goal from Sigrid Aas in the 49th minute to cut the UNM lead in half before a Gwen Maly goal in the 50th minute followed by an own goal by Pacific for the Lobos made it 4-1 UNM in the 55th minute.
Pacific’s Loren Landrus scored in the 73rd minute before Claire Lynch scored on a penalty kick in the 85th minute to make the final score 5-2.
The Lobos finished with 18 shots with 18 of those on goal (which includes the own goal) while Pacific had seven shots with five on goal. The shots were spread out for UNM as six players took two or more shots on goal with 10 Lobos getting a shot on goal overall.
Tayler Hammack finished with three saves in goal for the Lobos.
It’s the first win of the season for the Lobos after dropping their first two matches against ranked opponents on the road versus No. 16 Texas Tech (2-1) on Aug. 19, and No. 21 Cal (2-0) on Friday.
The Lobos return to action Friday when they hit the road to play Weber State and follow that up with a game at Idaho State on Sunday.
NOTES: The five goals are the most by the Lobos in a non-conference game since Aug. 20, 2010, when they defeated Montana 7-0 at UNM Soccer Complex. … The goals by sophomore Jennifer Muñoz, freshman Jessie Hix and freshman Gwen Maly were the first of their college careers. … Junior Claire Lynch’s goal was the 10th of her career and first of the season.