Historic Season Comes to an End for the Lobos in North Carolina
WILSON, N.C. — The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team’s historic season came to an end on Friday evening, falling to TCU 2-6 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Lobos had a dominant first half and led the match going into the second 45′, thanks to a goal by Alesia Garcia in the 28th minute. However, it was not enough to hold off the Horned Frogs as they went on a four-goal scoring run in the first six minutes of the second half. Garcia scored another goal in the 79th minute, but the Lobos were unable to make a comeback.
“I think we all knew going into it that we were pretty outmatched player for player. They have a really special team, and Yazmeen Ryan is the No. 6 overall pick for the Portland Thorns; she’s a Nike athlete, and you saw that tonight,” said head coach Heather Dyche. “I was really proud that we gave them fits in the first half, and then they came out in the second half and put on a show there for a little bit which is what good teams do. We came out with the idea that we would fight and try to disrupt the game, and I think we did that really well for as long as we could. Disappointed with the result, but certainly proud of our performance.”
UNM scored first in the 28th minute of its first-ever appearance in the second round. Jadyn Edwards was doubled up and found two incoming Lobos making their way to the box. Edwards put the ball in play, and it seemed as if it was headed to Maysa Walters as she was able to pull defenders off of Alesia Garcia. The ball went just past Walters to Garcia, and as soon as she gathered the ball, she launched it to the back of the net, earning the Lobos a 1-0 lead going into the second half.
The Horned Frogs flipped a switch after halftime, scoring four goals within the first six minutes of the period.
“All of their goals were really good upper-90s, and there was no stopping that,” said Alesia Garcia.
“It honestly wasn’t until they scored like four or five (goals) that I thought they were kind of running away with (the game) because I still had hope in our team, and we’ve always been really resilient when we’ve gone down,” said Gwen Maly. “It was hard to have all the goals back to back, but I think our team stayed really connected.”
The Horned Frogs went on to score two more goals before the Lobos answered back in the 78th minute. Mackenna Havenor launched in a shot that was saved by the goalie. On the rebound was Garcia, who tapped the ball in before it even had a chance to hit the ground.
The Lobo defense was phenomenal throughout the match, applying pressure on every possession. This allowed the Lobos to keep the Horned Frogs scoreless in the first half, even though TCU had scored 11 goals in the first 45′ alone this season. The Lobos were able to score two goals in the match, just the second team this season to score two goals in a match versus TCU.
The Lobos finish the unprecedented season of 2020-21 with an overall record of 10-2-1.
To keep up with all things Lobo Soccer, follow @UNMLoboWSoccer on Twitter!