Lobos Fall in PKs in Mountain West Semifinals
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Lindsey Guice scored with 42 seconds left, giving UNM a reprieve from seeing it’s season end. What followed was gut-wrenching, as the Lobos couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in penalty kicks and lost the shootout 3-2, seeing its season end to San José State.
Officially, the game will go down as a 1-1 tie, but that is probably of little consolation for the Lobos, who were outshot throughout the game but somehow got it to overtime.
Despite not advancing, heroes abounded for UNM. Cassie Ulrich was utterly brilliant in net for New Mexico, registering nine saves, not counting one in PKs. Ulrich opened the game with a tremendous diving punch out in the opening minutes, and in the second half she twice kept UNM in reach with fantastic saves. DeeDee Hoppius hit a low blast in the 52nd minute that Ulrich dove and just got a glove on, and then in the 72nd minute with UNM still trailing 1-0, Ulrich had the save of the match, stopping Darlene Rodriguez on a breakaway.
It seemed like all those saves would be a nice footnote as UNM was outshot 16-5 over the first 89 minutes, including 9-0 on goal. However, with just 41 ticks left, Alyssa Coonrod’s soaring cross somehow banged off keeper Zoe Makrigiannis and Lindsey Guice poked the rebound in on UNM’s first shot on goal in the game, and amazingly, the game was headed to OT 1-1.
In the overtime both teams had good chances, with Hoppius hitting a hard blast from the 18 just high, and Guice hitting a hard shot with five minutes left in the match that Makrigiannis stopped. With two minutes left, She was replaced in net by Paige Simoneau in order for her to take over the net for penalties.
It was in penalties where the cruel ending came down. It all started off well, as Madisyn Olguin and Brooke Webster both scored for UNM sandwiched around a make by SJSU’s Yvette Cuellar. To end the second round, Cassie Ulrich came up big with a save on a shot by Claire Berkley. Dylann O’Connor stepped up with a chance to give UNM a commanding 3-1 lead, but Simoneau saved her penalty headed to the lower left corner, and the Spartans scored to tie it at 2-2.
In the fourth round, Maddie Irwin hit the post but Becca Spangler hit her answer wide, leaving the shootout tied at 2-2 going into the final round. Claire Lynch, who attempted UNM’s only penalty during the season, hit a low shot to Simoneau’s left that she kicked a leg out and saved, and the ball bounced out and then back towards the goal. Unfortunately, the backspin carried the ball wide, allowing San José State a shot to win. Darriel Franklin stepped up and cracked a rocket into the lower left corner that Ulrich guessed right on and just missed, giving the Spartans the 3-2 edge, advancing them to the Mountian West title game.
The Lobos end their first season under first year head coach Heather Dyche at 10-8-2, making her the third coach in school history to open her career with double-digit wins.
STARTERS
New Mexico: Ulrich (GK), O’Connor, Guice, Chavez, Irwin, Lynch, Wheeler, Coonrod, Olguin, Jimenez, Munoz.
San José State: Makrigiannis (GK), Berkley, Docherty, Rodriguez, Hoppius, Wathen-Mayorga, Franklin, Wilkes, Chung, McBeath, Orodpour.
SCORING SUMMARY
San José State: Maricrus Chapa (3) (Dorthe Hoppius) 41:34
New Mexico: Lindsey Guice (4) (Alyssa Coonrod), 89:18
NOTES
*The Lobos are now 1-3 all-time in penalties in Mountain West Tournament play, and they have lost the last three.
*UNM is now 2-1-2 in it’s last five Mountain West Tournament games, with the only loss in overtime last season.
* The Lobos are 1-4-1 against No. 2 seeds in the tournament. It’s the second straight year the No. 2 seed as knocked out UNM in the semifinals.
*Guice ended her career with 13 goals.