New Mexico Women’s Soccer at New Mexico State
Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. (MST)
NM State Soccer Athletic Complex – Las Cruces, N.M.
Video Stream ($$$)
Live Stats
In-Game Updates on @nmlobowsoccer
Match Notes
Head Coach Heather Dyche and the Lobos travel south to Las Cruces for their first road match of the season. It is also the first match-up of the Rio Grande Rivalry for the 2015-16 academic year. New Mexico is coming off a pair of home matches against No. 1 Florida State and No. 15 Texas Tech. The match was scheduled to be played in Aggie Memorial Stadium, home of New Mexico State Football, but was moved back to the Aggies’ soccer facility.
About the Match
- New Mexico versus New Mexico State is part of an annual competition between the two schools, known officially as the “Rio Grande Rivalry”. The rivalry encompasses all sports sponsored by both schools and is scored by a point system. Wednesday’s match in Las Cruces will be the first Rio Grande Rivalry meeting of the 2015-16 academic year between the two schools.
- The women’s soccer edition of the Rio Grande Rivalry is just four years old with the Lobos posting a victory in all four matches.
- UNM is coming off an opening weekend of one of the toughest schedules in the nation. The Lobos hosted No. 1 Florida State and No. 15 Texas Tech in the 2015 Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque. New Mexico gave both a match before falling 3-1 to the Seminoles and 1-0 to the Lady Red Raiders. UNM saw great fan support at the UNM Soccer Complex throughout the weekend to the tune of 3,629 fans. That number included the 2,589 official crowd for the Florida State match, which was the largest crowd for a home opener in program history.
- Claire Lynch found the back of the net against the defending national champion Seminoles. It was her third goal in her last five matches going back to the 2014 season. It was also the first goal allowed by Florida State in over 683 consecutive minutes.
- This season will mark the beginning of the Heather Dyche era of UNM Women’s Soccer. Dyche, a native of Albuquerque, becomes the fourth head coach in program history after working extensively with United States Soccer, CONCACAF, Olympic Development Program Regional Team and others. The head coach spent the past summer as a scout for the U.S. Women’s National Team en route to their World Cup championship in Canada.
- Lobo Women’s Soccer has long been a program built on a foundation of native New Mexicans, and the 2015 team is no different. Twelve players on this year’s roster are from the Land of Enchantment with 11 of those Lobos coming from the Albuquerque metro area. Those dozen New Mexico-born Lobos represent 35 percent of the total roster.