Lobo Soccer Closes out Regular Season at San Diego State

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After an exciting last week at home, the Lobos end their regular season on the road with a matchup against conference rival San Diego State on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. (MT) at SDSU Sports Deck.

The Lobos closed out their home schedule with a bang. New Mexico went undefeated at home in conference play this season in five games, topped off with the 2-0 shutout of Colorado College and 2-1 win over Air Force this past weekend. With New Mexico’s 2-1 win over Air Force and Fresno State’s 3-0 loss to UNLV today, the Lobos clinched a share of the Mountain West Regular Season Champion title with the Bulldogs. New Mexico also claimed the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Conference Tournament as they won the tiebreaker with their 2-1 win over Fresno State on Oct. 17. The Lobos and Bulldogs’ last matches on Oct. 28 will determine whether the Lobos share the regular season title with the Bulldogs or the Lobos win the title outright.

Multiple Lobos reached significant milestones in their careers over the weekend. Alexa Kirton now owns the record for most career games played by a single Lobo with 83 games played, passing Liz Nare (2010-13) and Kelli Cornell (2009-12) who each have 82 games played. Jadyn Edwards is now third in program career records with 60 points through her career, surpassing Gwen Maly (2016-2020) with 57 points and Claire Lynch (2014-17) with 56 points. Edwards is also now tied for third with Jennifer Williams (2008-2011) and Hannah Hand (2005-08) with 18 assists in her career. Emily Johnson also now has 40 career wins, a huge accomplishment for any collegiate goalkeeper.

San Diego State (7-10-1, 5-4-1 MW) is coming off a 3-0 loss to Colorado College on Oct. 24. The Aztecs are currently tied for fourth in the conference with 16 points. Denise Castro leads the team with eight goals and 44 shots (23 on goal). Alexa Madueno has recorded 72 saves and allowed 24 goals in 14 starts as the Aztecs’ goalkeeper. San Diego State holds the 14-10-7 advantage in the all-time series record. The Lobos are currently on a three-game winning streak over the Aztecs. The last time the two teams played was in the 2020 Mountain West Conference Final on April 17, 2021, when the Lobos earned the 3-2 victory with a golden goal by Jadyn Edwards in the first overtime period.

Edwards continues to dominate the Mountain West in almost every offensive category. She leads in shots (70), shots on goal (32), goals (9) and points (25). Zaria Katesigwa and Molly Myers are tied for second in goals (8) with SDSU’s Castro. The Lobos’ defense continues to be an integral part to the team’s success, highlighted by strong performances by Karlee Maes and Myah Isais.

Head coach Heather Dyche explained that their conference season was mostly on the road this season and the team was still able to clinch the regular season title despite that disadvantage.

“There are home and away seasons in the Mountain West for women’s soccer,” Dyche explained. “This was very much an away season so only five home games”

“To have the record that they have and to clinch the title, they should be incredibly proud of themselves,” Dyche continued. “There’s not enough nice things to say about them and I’m really happy for them.”

Dyche stated that San Diego State has always been a big rival of the Lobos and it won’t be hard to motivate the team to beat the Aztecs. She expects them to be a tough, talented opponent, as they have always been.

“[San Diego State are] big rivals,” Dyche said. “Rivals but in the way that you respect them.”

“They’re a great soccer team, they always are,” Dyche continued. “They play nice soccer and they have a great field. It’s fun when you have a team you definitely want to beat but you have a high level of respect for, as well.”

After clinching the Mountain West Regular Season Champion title with Sunday’s 2-1 win over Air Force, Dyche is glad they can take this game to focus on getting better and getting ready for the conference tournament next week.

“It’s nice that we can go into it and really focus on us getting better and not just trying to get a result,” Dyche stated. “I think that will be our focus.”