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| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 9-7-1 (5-4-1 MW) |
SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS 9-7-1 (8-2-0 MW) |
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Friday, November 1 – 7:30 p.m. |
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Kicking Off
A season’s worth of action for the University of New Mexico women’s soccer team comes down to the final regular season game as the Lobos are looking to secure their berth into the upcoming Mountain West Tournament.
Heading into the regular season finale, the Lobos are in fifth place in the MW standings, in line for a tournament berth, but need win against San Diego State to lock it up. The Aztecs, meanwhile, are playing for a regular season title as they can either claim a share of the championship or win it outright with a win against UNM and a loss or tie by Boise State.
As the Lobos and Aztecs are battling it out on the pitch, other games of interest that will determine the tournament field include Colorado College at Air Force and Fresno State at San José State.
In the tournament hunt among those teams are Fresno State, Air Force and San José State. Fresno is currently in fourth place and likely in with 17 points already. Their opponent San José State is in seventh place and needing an outright win to push into tournament consideration. Air Force would be in if the season ended today, but are looking for a result to ensure their trip to Boise.
With it being the regular season finale, the Lobos will also be celebrating the careers of Jessie Hix and Jill Olguin prior to kickoff with San Diego State for Senior Night. Both Hix and Olguin are four-year letterwinners for the Lobos.
UNM News and Notes
Baker Named MW Offensive Player of the Week
The Lobos scored six goals across their two games last week and Leilani Baker was in the middle of half of them as she scored twice and registered an assist as well. Her five-point week helped the Lobos go 2-0 and jump into a tie for first place, but it also netted the Rio Rancho native her first career MW Offensive Player of the Week honor.
Walters’ breakout game
True freshman Maysa Walters has emerged as a player to be reckoned with and has gained more time on the pitch. With the playing experience, Walters is also producing. In the Lobos’ 3-1 win over Nevada, Walters had a hand in all three goals as she dished out two assists and scored a goal. The four-point effort is a career-best for the young player from Billings, Mont.
Balanced Scoring
Last season, the Lobos set a new program record for goals with 45. An impressive note to that record was the fact that the team had 13 different goal scorers. This season, the Lobos have put forth another balanced scoring attack. With 22 goals to this point of the season, there have been seven different goal scorers and four of those are have three or more goals.
Between the Pipes
Going back to last season, the Lobos have had quality options of goalkeeper with Emily Johnson and Malia Vanisi equally as capable. Last year, Johnson received a majority of the time in goal for the Lobos and started the first two games this season, which included an impressive 1-0 shutout of then-ranked No. 22 Texas Tech, but an injury has sidelined Johnson opening the door for Vanisito step in.
In the 15 games that Vanisi has played, she has allowed 17 goals and posted 73 saves while registering four shutouts.
Combined, Johnson and Vanisi have turned in five clean sheets. Last season, the Lobos had just one defensive shutout.
One-Goal Difference
Thus far, 11 of the 17 games played by the Lobos this season have been one-goal games. In those games, the Lobos are 6-5. Last season, the Lobos played 12 one-goal games and posted a 7-5 record.
EJ Named MW Defensive Player of the Week
Senior goalkeeper Emily Johnson earned the first MW Defensive Player of the Week award for the 2019 season after she withstood an unrelenting offensive attack by the No.22-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders for the entirety of the 90-minute match en route to a clean sheet.
In the first half, Johnson faced 10 shots and made three saves. In the second half, with the Lobos holding a 1-0 lead, Johnson was forced to face 12 shots and made four more saves. The individual shutout posted by Johnson was her eighth as the Lobo goalkeeper and the weekly conference plaudit was the second in her career as well.
Knocking Off Nationally-Ranked Foe
Historically, the Lobos have played 33 matches against a ranked opponent coming into the 2019 season. All-time the Lobos’ record vs. ranked opponents was 4-25-5. Coming off of their NCAA Second Round run a year ago, UNM’s first opponent, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, were ranked No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
This year’s meeting marked the fourth time that the Lobos would play the Red Raiders when they were ranked. In those games, the Lobos were 0-3-0, but a “1” was added to the win column for the Lobos after they pulled off a 1-0 upset win of the Red Raiders.
The win snapped what was a five-game losing streak to the Red Raiders and was the first win for the Lobos over a ranked opponent since 2010 when they beat No. 8-ranked BYU.
Hix Knocking on Door of Top-5 in Goals
A two-time All-Mountain West First Team selection, Jessie Hix has turned in a stellar career thus far for her hometown team. Her prowess on the pitch is most evident offensively. For her career, Hix has found the back of the net 17 times to place her currently tied for fifth all-time at UNM. Thus far in her senior campaign, Hix has scored three goals.
Garcia and Game-Winners
Sophomore forward Alesia Garcia wasted little time in establishing herself as one of the top scoring threats in the MW as she ranked in a tie for second with seven goals. While any goal is important, all but two of Garcia’s were extremely important as they ended up being game-winning goals. Her five game-winners as a freshman were tied for the second-most by a Lobo in a season and already place her in a tie for sixth on the career list.
Garcia has wasted no time in adding to her total as her penalty kick goal in the waining seconds of the first half against No. 22-ranked Texas Tech stood up as the game-winner. Garcia, now with six career game-winners to her credit is tied for fifth all-time.
Road Warriors
Home games were kind to the Lobos last season as they went 8-1-1 while playing at the UNM Soccer Complex, but this year, the Lobos will be forced to be road warriors as 11 of their 18 scheduled regular season games will take place away from the Duke City. The Lobos are now through with their regular season away game slate and posted a 5-5-0 record in true road games and an 0-1-0 record at a neutral site.