In San Jose, Calif., the University of New Mexico women’s soccer team controlled the action most of the game against host San José State on Sunday, but had little to show for it, except a scary moment.
The Lobos (3-3-1, 1-0-1 in Mountain West play) and Spartans (3-4-3, 0-1-1) battled to a 1-1 tie but lost junior goalkeeper Cassie Ulrich to an injury in the latter stages of the second half.
With the Lobos leading 1-0 in the second half, Ulrich went up to claim an airborne centering pass but a Spartans player challenged her for the ball.
Ulrich grabbed the ball, but as the two were returning to the ground, the Spartans player was beneath her and caused Ulrich to fall over her and hit the grass without bracing herself. Ulrich had to leave the game.
The play put a damper on what had been an excellent game for the Lobos to that point. They had more chances on goal and were playing perhaps their best defense of the season.
“I’ll just say that was unfortunate because we had been playing so well up to that point,” coach Kit Vela said. “The players were freaked out, wondering if Cassie was OK, and we played about 10 loose minutes. And it hurt us.”
Backup goalkeeper Laura DeMers entered the game and fell victim to a perfectly placed shot that tied the game in the final 10 minutes.
After a Lobo clearing ball went out of bounds, SJSU tossed the ball into the left side of the UNM defense. A centering pass was tapped back to just inside the center of the box. An initial SJSU shot was blocked but the rebound when to Spartans forward Darlene Rodriguez.
Rodriguez bent a shot in the upper right corner. DeMers, the redshirt freshman, had little chance as the ball sailed past in the upper right corner and curled into the net to tie the game.
“Our defenders were just backed up too much,” Vela said. “But to their credit, they bounced back and everyone proved to be warriors. We proably would’ve lost the game if our character wasn’t as strong as it is.”
The Lobos dominated the first half with constant pressure. Their efforts paid off in the 30th minute on a nice downfield dump-off from sophomore defender Savannah Viola. Her pass to junior Dylann O’Connor allowed O’Connor to run down the right side of the field and fire a shot in the box at SJSU’s Zoe Makrigiannis.
The Spartans keeper made the save but couldn’t control the shot, and the ball caromed right to the waiting feet of sophomore forward Cassie Hanson. She booted the rebound into a wide open net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead that they took into halftime.
UNM was the aggressor in the first overtime, collecting the only four shots in the period, but could not manufacture the winning goal. The teams were unable to settle the matter in the second overtime.
“The important thig is we came away with four points on the road (including the win at Fresno State on Friday night),” Vela said. “We’ll have to evaluate Cassie, but we’re glad to be going home.”
Scoring Summary
New Mexico: (29:34) Cassie Hanson (first goal) (Dylann O’Connor, fourth assist)
San Jose State: (80:47) Darlene Rodriguez (Alexis Venegas).
Lineups
New Mexico: Ulrich (GK), OConnor, Guice, Viola, Bruciaga, Leyba, Chavez, Webster, Ferrier, Coonrod, Olguin
Fresno State: Makrigiannis (GK), Berkley, Docherty, K. Rodriguez, D. Rodriguez, Stange, Hoppius, Wilkes, Jimenez, Venegas, Gricius
Notes
– The Lobos outshot the Spartans 14-11, including 10-1 in the first period and the first overtime combined.
– UNM had eight shots on goal to SJSU’s 3.
– San Jos State’s Ariana Holmes was assessed a red card at the 79:02 mark. UNM’s Alexis Leyba received a yellow card at the 16:31 mark.
Next up
The Lobos will take a three-game unbeaten streak into back to the UNM Soccer Complex on Friday where they will take on Air Force at 7 p.m. They host Colorado College on Sunday at 1 p.m.