Right place. Right time. Right into the semifinals.
In San Diego, Calif., junior forward Lindsey Guice took advantage of a mistake by a Boise State defender to score the game-winning goal with 2:20 left in the contest as the University of New Mexico women’s soccer team advanced to the Mountain West Tournament semifinals with a 2-1 victory over Boise State on Tuesday night.
The peaking Lobos won their fourth straight game and ended the season for the Broncos (9-9-3), whose own four-game winning streak came to an end.
“I think we were a little nervous, first time back in the conference tournament,” Lobo coach Kit Vela said. “We lost in the quarterfinals last year. I just felt we weren’t quite as sharp as we had been the last couple of games, but persistence pays off.”
The third-seeded Lobos (10-5-2) will take on No. 2 seed Wyoming (10-8-1) on Thursday night at 5 p.m. UNM defeated Wyoming 2-1 on Oct. 26., having outshot the Cowgirls 26-11.
With less than three minutes left to play, UNM midfielder Ruth Bruciaga sent a ball toward the Boise State goal as Guice gave chase. The Boise State defender got to the ball outside the Broncos goal box first and attempted to clear the ball but obviously didn’t realize that Guice was closing fast on her to the right.
The defender, facing the goal, kicked the ball to her right, but it bounced off Guice’s shin and into the Broncos goal box to deliver the Lobos out of the first round of the tournament.
“She was pressing hard, which is what we preach for them to do, and she pressed through the defender and was rewarded,” UNM coach Kit Vela said. “She’s a physical player and on that play, it worked for her.”
As they’ve done during their four-game winning streak – all by a one-goal margin – the Lobos outshot their opponent, 12-7, had more shots on goal, 8-4, and won the corner-kick battle 4-0.
“Winning promotes winning, and the last four games, we’ve believed,” Vela said. “Our kids never stop playing hard, and you’ve got to appreciate that.”
Hard work paid off midway in the first half for the Lobos as reigning MW Offensive Player of the Week Dylann O’Connor hit a shot that drew a save from Broncos’ goalkeeper Janelle Flores. The rebound came out to true freshman Claire Lynch, who sent a shot back toward the goal.
The ball tipped the hand of a Broncos defender inside the box as Flores went to make another save, and the Lobos earned a penalty kick on the hand-ball.
Lynch beat Flores, who had gone four straight games without allowing a goal before Tuesday, for her team-leading fourth goal.
Asked why she let Lynch take the penalty kick, Vela said simply, “I believed that she could do it. She’s a goal-scorer.
Boise State, which last lost on Oct. 17 – to the Lobos 1-0 at the UNM Soccer Complex – tied the game when forward Hailey DeVries got a ball in the clearing on the right side and fed the ball to Dani Brown, who scored to tie the game at 1-1 with 13:27 left in the half.
“I’m really proud of our effort,” Vela said. “It wasn’t one of our more consistent games, but we stuck with it and showed a lot of character.”
Vela said the No. 1 priority for the Lobos before their semifinals match against the Cowgirls is to get her team off its feet on Wednesday.
“When we win, we run hard,” Vela said. “We’ve got to try to get their legs back. But hopefully, the nerves we had tonight will be gone.”
Scoring Summary
New Mexico: (22:17) Claire Lynch (penalty kick); (87:40) Dylann O’Connor (Ruth Bruciaga)
Boise State: (31:33) Dani Brown (Hailey DeVries)
Lineups
New Mexico: Ulrich (GK), O’Connor, Guice, Leyba, Chavez, Webster, Irwin, Ferrier, Cabrales, Coonrod, Olguin
Boise State: Flores (GK), Heidemann, Bowden, Taylor, Clayton, Campbell, Schueren, Jameson, Tucker, Vogel, DeVries
Notes
– The Lobos have won four straight, are 9-2-2 in their last 13 games and have won 7 of their last 8 games.
– New Mexico is now 1 for 2 on penalty kicks this season. Alyssa Coonrod had one saved against Colorado College on Oct. 5.
– The Lobos improved to 1-2 in neutral games this season. They went 4-0-1 on the road and 5-3-1 at home.
– UNM is 68-9-6 all-time under coach Kit Vela when it scores first.
Up Next
The third-seeded Lobos will take on No. 2 Wyoming in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament on Thursday at 5 p.m. UNM had, perhaps, its most dominating performance in the first meeting with the Cowgirls on Oct. 26, a 2-1 Lobo victory. The Lobos are seeking their fifth straight win, which would a first since the middle of the 2012 season.