EL PASO, TEXAS — The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team let loose a barrage of shots upon UTEP on Sunday afternoon during regulation – but to no avail as the Lobos and UTEP headed to overtime scoreless.
Finally on UNM’s 23rd shot and 11th on goal, Jill Olguin took a pass from Eileen Zendejas and punched it into the lower left corner of the goal to defeat the Miners 1-0 at University Soccer Field.
UNM (2-2) outshot UTEP (0-4 – all four losses by one goal) 23-7 overall and 11-2 on shots on goal as the Lobos controlled much of the contest.
“This was the first performance of the year that we felt we met our goals as a team,” UNM coach Heather Dyche said. “Our energy was right the entire game. With Claire (Lynch) missing the game, we knew our goal would come from a bravery play in the box, and I was really happy to see Jill get her first college goal. She’s been working hard and deserves it.”
Much like the Lobos’ tough 1-0 loss to NMSU on Thursday where UNM controlled the match (outshot the Aggies 18-6) but couldn’t find the goal and eventually lost on a NMSU breakaway goal with 46 seconds remaining in regulation, UNM couldn’t find the back of the net in regulation despite 21 shots (with a few hitting the post and crossbar) with 10 of those on goal.
But the Lobos continued to be aggressive to open overtime as just 33 seconds in Quincy Slora got a shot off that soared high.
Two minutes later is when the sophomore Olguin took a pass from the senior Zendejas and scored her first collegiate goal to give the Lobos the win.
“I was really excited to score my first career goal and it felt even better knowing I was able to help the team win,” Olguin said. “We’ve been working so hard, so to be able to score the game-winner meant a lot to me because I was able to contribute to the game when we really needed it.”
UNM goalkeeper Emily Johnson collected a pair of saves in picking up her second shutout of the season. Overall, UNM limited UTEP to seven shots on the day. It’s a theme for the Lobos as UNM is allowing just eight shots (three on goal) per contest through four games while attempting 20.0 shots (7.8 on goal) per contest.
Jennifer Munoz, Isabella Jimenez and Zendejas paced the Lobos with three shots apiece Sunday with all three of Zendejas’ on goal. Slora, Cami Floth and Casey Murphy had two shots apiece for UNM as well.
UNM travels to Seattle this week where it will take on the University of Portland 6 p.m. Friday (MT) and the University of Washington 1 p.m. (MT) Monday.