New Mexico women’s soccer at California
Friday, Aug. 26 at 3 p.m. (MST)
Goldman Field — Berkeley, Calif.
New Mexico women’s soccer at Pacific
Sunday, Aug. 29 at 2 p.m. (MST)
Knoles Field — Stockton, Calif.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s one ranked opponent down and another one to go as The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team heads west to California to take on No. 21 California 3 p.m. Friday and Pacific 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Lobos (0-1-0) opened the season last Friday with a 2-1 loss at then-No. 19 Texas Tech (the Red Raiders have since moved up to No. 16). UNM and Texas Tech were scoreless through the first 58 minutes before a pair of goals six minutes apart gave the Red Raiders a 2-0 advantage. However, five minutes later Maddie Irwin scored for the Lobos to cut the lead in half – but UNM couldn’t find the back of the net again to drop its fourth straight to Texas Tech.
The Lobos take on a 21st-ranked Golden Bears squad that split a pair of contests in their opening weekend – defeating Cal Poly 1-0 on Friday at home and falling in double overtime on the road against No. 13 Santa Clara, 1-0. As for Pacific, it dropped its season opener at home to Cal Poly, 2-0, on Sunday.
NOTES HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND:
- It’s been a long time since UNM and Cal faced one another in their one and only matchup. The Lobos dropped a 2-1 contest to the Golden Bears on Sept. 24, 1999, at a tournament in Greensboro, N.C. UNM fell behind 2-0 in the first half of that contest before Lara Melendres cut the lead to 2-1 with a goal for the Lobos in the 50th minute. However, the Lobos fell short and dropped to 3-5-1 on the year – a season in which UNM finished 6-13-1.
- Like in its Friday matchup with Cal, UNM has faced Pacific only one other time in the program’s history – but that contest was played much more recently. The Lobos fell to the Tigers 2-1 on Sept. 15, 2013, at the Saint Mary’s Classic in Moraga, Calif. The Lobos took a 1-0 advantage in the first half of that contest when Madisyn Olguin scored on a corner from Alyssa Coonrod in the 15th minute before two goals by Pacific in the final 22 minutes handed UNM the heartbreaking loss.
- This marks the third time in four years and second year in a row the Lobos have played ranked opponents in back-to-back games. It’s also the second year in a row UNM has opened the season with back-to-back ranked opponents (hosted No. 1 Florida State and No. 15 Texas Tech last season).
- Maddie Irwin’s goal against Texas Tech was the sixth of her career as the senior has now scored at least one goal in each of her four years with the Lobos.
- The 2016 Lobos will have plenty of home-grown talent on the roster as 14 players are from New Mexico. Ten of those players are from the Albuquerque area while two are from Farmington and one each are from Carlsbad and Tucumcari. It’s not only the players that have New Mexico ties as head coach Heather Dyche is an Albuquerque Eldorado High School graduate and assistant coach Paul Maestas is a Lobo grad and a former high school, state-title winning coach at Eldorado High School.
Follow the UNM women’s soccer team on Twitter (@nmlobowsoccer) or on Instagram (@lobo_womens_soccer) for updates and information on your Lobos!