Women's Soccer Opens Season in Vegas

The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team opens the 2021 season heading to Las Vegas, Nevada for a pair of neutral site matches, taking on UC Davis on Thursday at 5:30 pm Mountain Time, and then taking on Dixie State at 11:30 am Mountain Time on Sunday, August 22.

The Lobos are coming off a 10-2-1 season that saw the program win its second Mountain West regular season title under head coach Heather Dyche. UNM went 9-1-0 in the regular season, winning the Mountain Division and hosting San Diego State, winners of the West Division with an identical 9-1-0 record. The Lobos won the championship match 3-2 in overtime, sending UNM into its first NCAA Tournament since the 2011 season.

There, the Lobos faced Navy in the opening round and advanced past the Middies, tying the game 1-1 and then winning 4-2 in penalty kicks. UNM lost to the No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs 6-2 in the second round.

Now, Dyche is back for her seventh season, and she returns 22 of 25 letterwinners from a year ago, adding 10 newcomers as well. The Lobos were selected in a vote of the league’s coaches to win the league again.

UC Davis is playing it’s first official game since the 2019 season, and Dixie State will be playing in its second full seaosn in Division I. Both UC Davis and Dixie State also play UNLV on the trip.