 |
 |
| UNLV REBELS 8-5-2 (2-3-1 MW) |
NEVADA WOLF PACK 4-8-2 (1-5-0 MW) |
|
Friday, October 12 | 8 p.m. (MT) |
Sunday, October 14 | 2 p.m. (MT) |
UNM NOTES (PDF)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team will be looking to build off of a positive weekend at home as they came-from-behind twice and ended the weekend 1-0-1. On last Friday night, the Lobos overcame a 2-0 first-half deficit against league-leading Boise State and handed the Broncos their first non-victory result of the conference season. Two days later, the Lobos found themselves down 2-0 again in the first half, but thanks in part to a pair of goals by Gwen Maly, the Lobos ended up beating Utah State by a score of 3-2.
This past weekend’s results give the Lobos 10 points in the Mountain West standings and places them in a tie for third-place with Wyoming and Colorado College. With just five more conference matches left in the regular season, this weekend’s road trip to the state of Nevada will be critical for the Lobos and their effort to assert themselves firmly in the upcoming Mountain West Conference Tournament.
First up for the Lobos is a Friday night match against UNLV. UNM and UNLV have played one another at least once a year dating back to 1998. Beginning in 1999, the two were Mountain West Conference opponents and have also squared off five times in the Mountain West Tournament. Last year, UNM beat the Rebels 2-1 at home. Scoring goals for the Lobos were Jessica Nelson and Claire Lynch.
On Sunday, the Lobos will head to Reno to take on Nevada. The Lobos hold a commanding 7-1-1 record in the all-time series vs. Nevada. Last season, UNM picked up their seventh win in the series with a 1-0 win at home. Scoring for the Lobos was Jessie Hix.
Scoring From All Directions
The Lobos have scored 25 goals to this point of the season and trail only Boise State in the Mountain West. Of those 25 goals scored, 10 different players have found the back of the net with seven doing so on multiple occasions. Alesia Garcia and Gwen Maly are tied for the team lead with five goals. Leilani Baker and Jessie Hix have scored three goals while Cami Floth, Madi Hirschman, and Jennifer Munoz have all scored a pair of goals. Lexi Baca, Jadyn Edwards, and Alexa Kirton have added one goal each, respectively.
In Goal
Emily Johnson and Malia Vanisi have shared time in goal for the Lobos this season. Johnson has started 11 of 13 games for the Lobos and Vanisi has come in relief in five games, while starting two. The duo keepers have combined to notch three shutouts and stop 77% of shots on goal faced. Vanisi has two wins as a starter and two coming off the bench. Johnson has logged the most time in goal with 881:32 minutes.
Who Scores First Matters
Through the 13 games of the season, a significant stat has emerged for the Lobo women’s soccer team and it has to do with who scores first in a game. Currently UNM is 6-1-0 when they score first in a game. Conversely, the Lobos are 1-4-1 when the opponent registers the first score of a game. That was 0-4-0 prior to last weekend’s action as the Lobos rallied from early deficits to beat Utah State and draw with Boise State.
Home Sweet Home
The UNM Soccer Complex has been good the Lobos this year as all but one of their wins this season have come at home. Sporting a 6-1-1 record in the Duke City, the Lobos have also displayed a potent offense as they have scored 22 goals in their eight game at home, an average of 2.75 goals per game. The Lobos are down to just two more home games in 2018 with games against Air Force (10/19) and Colorado College (10/21) remaining.
Multiple Goals = Lobo Wins
Under Heather Dyche, the Lobos are 27-2-3 when scoring multiple goals in a game. The odd part of that stat is at one time UNM was 21-0-0. Then the oddities occurred. First, UNM lost on a free kick with seven seconds left in overtime in which the clock was stopped to allow the free kick to happen … that was a 4-3 loss. That was followed by a pair of come-from-behind 2-2 ties, one while playing with 10 players, the other without leading scorer Claire Lynch in the Mountain West Tournament. Since then, UNM is 6-2-3 in such games.
Record in the Classroom
Along with the success on the field, the UNM women’s soccer program is proving to be one of the top teams off of it as well as the Lobos put together a 3.77 GPA in the 2018 spring semester. It’s the 16th-consecutive semester UNM women’s soccer has put together a 3.4 GPA or better, and the 3.77 GPA tied with the spring semester of 2017 for the highest team GPA.
For the academic year 2017-18, the Lobos achieved a 3.75 team GPA to earn the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the third-consecutive year.
Keeping It Going
The Lobos have turned in winning records in 12 of the last 13 seasons, and in all three under Heather Dyche. UNM also has an all-time home record of 115-71-25 at the UNM Soccer Complex. UNM also has finished .500 or better in conference play for 10 straight seasons.