The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team ran its unbeaten streak to four games on Friday night – but wasn’t very happy about it.
The Lobos outshot visiting Air Force 23-6 on a perfect night at the UNM Soccer Complex but had only a 1-1 tie to show for it.
Falcons midfielder Morgan Mavroudis found a rebound off a blocked shot and hit the equalizer in the 21st minute of the second half, that negated a dominant performance by the Lobos in the first half.
Alyssa Coonrod took a nice feed from Emily Chavez and beat Air Force goalkeeper Alex Kahalley on the right side with just more than a minute remaining in the first half to give UNM a 1-0 lead at the break.
“You can’t outshoot a team 23-6 and walk away with a 1-1 tie,” Lobo coach Kit Vela said. To (the Falcons’) credit, they fought to the end. We started to get a little rushed; we wanted it so badly that we weren’t taking best opportunities on them.”
UNM outshot Air Force 10-0 in the opening half and was awfully close to getting a goal just moments before Coonrod’s goal gave her team the lead.
Lindsey Guice initiated a strike with a shot from the left side of the box that was blocked. Ruth Bruciaga shot the rebound, but Kahalley was there for the stop, but Coonrod got a shot in, as did Bruciaga, and the ball was right on the goal line, but the Falcons were credited with the stop.
The Lobos played the game without starter Cassie Ulrich, and though the team had a couple shaky moments when Air Force tied the game, they rallied around backup Laura DeMers and kept the Falcons at bay the rest of the way.
“I think they feel good about that,” Vela said, “but they like winning games, and they played well enough to do so. They’ve got to remember how that (winning) feels so they can go out and do it again.”
Scoring Summary
New Mexico: (43:51) Alyssa Coonrod (Emily Chavez).
New Mexico State: (65:34) Morgan Mavroudis (Angela Karamanos).
Lineups
New Mexico: DeMers (GK), O’Connor, Guice, Viola, Bruciaga, Leyba, Chavez, Webster, Ferrier, Coonrod, Olguin
Air Force: Kahalley (GK), Cooper, Skidmore, Williamson, Swift, Rittmann, Lundberg, Reisinger, O’Sullivan, Shalongo, Karamanos,
Notes
– The Lobos have outshot their MW opponents by a combined 45-25.
– Alyssa Coonrod becomes the ninth different Lobo to score this season (in eight games and in 14 total goals).
– Five Lobos (besides goalkeeper Laura DeMers) played the entire 110 minutes: midfielder Alexis Leyba, defender Emily Chavez, defender Brooke Webster, defender Olivia Ferrier and midfielder Alyssa Coonrod.
Next up
The Lobos continue in Mountain West play by hosting Colorado College on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the UNM Socer Complex. The Tigers are 5-3-3 and 1-1-1 in the MW after a 3-0 loss to San Diego State on Friday night.