Lobos Battle to Draw with Gauchos
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— On a windy Thursday evening, the Lobos battled to a scoreless contest with UC Santa Barbara. UNM outshot UCSB 15-6 with a 5-3 edge in shots on goal behind Logan Nicholson’s two shots on goal and one each from Presley Devey, Fiona Jenkins and Ellie Robinson.
Thursday’s draw extends UNM’s unbeaten streak to four matches and results in its third clean sheet in four matches.
The defense was asked to step up early with three Gaucho shots taken in the first 10 minutes, forcing Callie Droitsch to make an early save in the ninth minute.
UNM fell into an offensive rhythm and created some shots beginning in the 13th minute when Natalie DeGagne took a shot that sailed over the top of the goal, followed by Devey’s shot in the 19th minute at the top of the box that was saved by the UCSB keeper, and again on a header by Robinson in the 35th minute that was on target but saved by UCSB’s goalie. A feed from Jenkins to Mercedes Morris in the box resulted in another shot off target in the 38th minute and a shot by Jenkins outside the 18 at the 39:36 mark went low right and was brought in by the Gaucho keeper for the final shots for the Lobos in the first half.
The Lobos took seven shots to UCSB’s three, three of which were on frame for the Lobos and one for the Gauchos in the first 45 minutes. Devey led with two shots, one on goal, and Robinson and Jenkins each had one shot on goal.
UNM’s defense kept it scoreless as Samantha Corrie tipped the ball away from the Gauchos in the 48th minute on an opportunity inside the box for UCSB and Devey’s shot outside the 18 that went high over the goal in the 50th minute was UNM’s first chance to break the stalemate in the final 45.
A corner kick from UCSB in the 55th minute amounted to an off-target shot and a goal kick and five minutes later, another UCSB corner kick in the 60th minute was headed by Taryn Robles before being cleared by the Lobos. On the opposite side of the field, a Lobo corner kick in the 62nd minute led to a couple of headers and another corner, which resulted in a long Lobo possession and a Morgan Juran shot that went over the goal for a UCSB goal kick.
With the wind continuing to be a factor, the shots on target were limited with UNM taking two shots on goal compared to one for UCSB, which Droitsch read the wind well in the 67th minute on a shot at the top of the box that bounced in front of the Lobo keeper, who short hopped it for the save.
Nicholson had consecutive good opportunities for UNM starting with a shot from the right side of the box in the 71st minute that was handled by the UCSB keeper and rifled off another shot in the 73rd minute off a free kick by Brae Cole that made the UCSB keeper have to dive to her right to make the stop.
A corner kick for UCSB in the 79th minute resulted in a header that went wide right of the goal and a free kick in the 87th minute that led to a Cole clean shot that was high left proved to be the final chances for either side in the match as the time ran out.
With the result, it is the second match this season that Droitsch has made two saves, and the third time in her career, as well as the fifth match on the season with the Lobos taking more shots than their opponent and the fourth consecutive match having the advantage in shots on goal. It is also the third match that UNM has taken 15 or more shots.
The Lobos move to 3-1-1 on the year and conclude their five-match homestand with UTEP on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.