No. 1 seed New Mexico headed to the MW Championship
BOISE, Idaho – After a huge 2-1 double overtime win over Utah State in the Mountain West Semifinals, the Lobos are advancing to the Mountain West Championship match. New Mexico is set to face Boise State at 12 p.m. (MT) on the Broncos’ home pitch, Boas Soccer Complex.
After a 2-1 double overtime win over Utah State in the semifinal round on Thursday, No. 1 seed New Mexico is headed to the Mountain West Championship match for the first time in three years. Both of the Lobos’ goals were scored by MW Newcomer of the Year, Zaria Katesigwa.
The Lobos have a slight advantage as they earned a “bye” in the quarterfinal round, only having to play two games, as opposed to the three games their opponent Boise State had to play. This gave New Mexico a bit more time to rest and strategize to push forward through the tournament.
No. 6 seed Boise State (11-6-4, 5-4-3 MW) advanced to the championship match after a victory over Fresno State which was won by penalty kicks. After the Broncos and Bulldogs ended the match in a 1-1 draw after the full 110 minutes of regulation plus both overtime periods, the match came down to penalty kicks. Because there are no ties in the conference tournament, the two teams went head-to-head in one of the most intense situations in the game of soccer. The Broncos came out victorious by 6-5 as their goalkeeper Sydney Smith saved the last Fresno attempt, sending Boise State to the championship round. This is the first time a six seed has advanced to the championship in conference history. With home pitch advantage, the Broncos are capitalizing on that this tournament run.
The Lobos’ win over Utah State in the semifinals was strangely similar to their win over USU in the regular season. In the regular season, New Mexico defeated the Aggies, 2-1, shortly into the second overtime period and both goals were scored by the same Lobo, Molly Myers. In the semifinal match on Thursday, the Lobos defeated the Aggies, 2-1, just minutes into double overtime and both goals were scored by the same Lobo, Zaria Katesigwa.
New Mexico last earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament in the 2011 season. That season, the team defeated UNLV, 1-0, in the semifinal round, then continued on to shutout Wyoming, 2-0, in the championship match, to be named the tournament champion title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The last time the Lobos advanced to the MW Championship was in the 2018 season. Coincidentally that season, the team advanced to the championship match after a 2-1win in double overtime over the Wyoming Cowgirls.
A bit of deja vu also comes in to play as the Lobos faced San Jose State in the championship match that season on their home pitch in San Jose, California. Now with the No. 1 seed, the Lobos are hoping to use that momentum to overcome Boise State’s home pitch advantage, defeat the Broncos and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Heather Dyche expects Boise State to be a tough matchup on their home field but she knows that this Lobo team has what it takes to overcome that.
“Any time you’re playing a team on their home field – we lost to San Jose doing that a couple of years ago in the finals – you have to have a little bit of magic and you have to be able to get lucky,” Dyche said. “I think our team is going to be ready and we’re ready for a battle.”
Dyche stated that this group of Lobos is really a family and sisterhood and they stick together through everything.
“When you have that, you can really get through any battle that you want to get through together,” Dyche continued. “We had a little bit of a rough patch this year and they never hung their head, they just kept on rolling.”