Lobos Welcome Wolf Pack Sunday

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos close the week and the month of September with a Sunday match against Nevada at 1:30 p.m. UNM enters the contest 4-2-2 on the season, 0-1-0 in conference, with Nevada 2-8-0 and 0-1-0 in conference. While having a setback in the conference opener on Thursday, history trends well for the Lobos against the Wolf Pack, 11-1-2 all-time including 5-0-1 at home.

SERIES vs. NEVADA
UNM lost to Nevada in the first meeting in the series on Sept. 23, 2005 but has either tied or won the remaining matches of the series.

The Lobos have won the last two meetings and had a nine-match win streak against the Wolf Pack spanning from Oct. 7, 2012 to Oct. 4, 2019.

Coach Dyche is 7-0-1 against Nevada, 4-0-0 at home.

UNM has outscored Nevada 24-7 in the series with nine shutouts and is 7-0 in one-goal matches.

The last time the two teams met, it was a sisterly connection that led to the game-winner in the 67th minute as Allie Anderson threw the ball in from the far side, throwing the ball between the D and the A letters in the end zone. A Nevada player made the initial contact, heading the ball in the direction of Nicole Anderson, who gathered the ball and shot bottom left corner for the goal. It was the first career goal for N. Anderson. Both the Lobos and Wolf Pack took 13 shots in the match with Nevada holding an 8-7 margin in shots on goal.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Presley Devey has scored the game-winning goal in three matches (UCR, Oregon, San Diego) and Ellie Robinson in one (vs. UTEP).

Natalie DeGagne has recorded an assist in three matches and has a point in four matches this season with a goal in the season opener.

The Lobos have used five different lineup variations this season.

Four Lobos have played over 90% of the minutes this season: Kennedy Brown (653’), Fiona Jenkins (661’), DeGagne (672’) and Callie Droitsch (720’) with six playing over 600 minutes.

Six Lobos have started all eight matches this season: Devey, DeGagne, Nicole Anderson, Brown, Jenkins, and Droitsch.

UNM had four field players play the fulltime against UCSB: Jenkins, Morgan Juran, Taryn Robles and Natalie DeGagne, with Droitsch also going the length of the match in net. Robles, Brown and Juran played the full 90 against UTEP, as did Droitsch and Jenkins, Ashley Moody, DeGagne, Brown and Juran played the full 90 at NAU with Droitsch playing the full 90 in net.

THE WINNING RECIPE
In three of UNM’s wins, the Lobos scored first in the match and have held a lead at the break. Only in the UTEP match did the Lobos have to come from behind.

In addition, the Lobos have outshot opponents 33-12 in the first 45 minutes and 34-19 in the second 45 minutes for a 67-31 edge (16.8-7.8 average) in shots in the wins. When it comes to shots on goal, the Lobos have outshot their opponents 27-9 in that category.

UNM led for 79:08 in the match against UCR, 84:12 in the match against Oregon and 84:38 against San Diego, for a total of 247:58.

In both the Oregon and San Diego matches, the Lobos scored in the first six minutes with Alysa Whelchel scoring at 5:48 against the Ducks and Presley Devey scoring the fastest goal this season at 5:22 against USD. Devey also added another goal against Oregon at 9:10 and a goal against UC Riverside at 10:52, meaning four of the five goals scored happened in the first 11 minutes of the matches.

Callie Droitsch allowed two goals during the six-match unbeaten streak with four clean sheets, making 15 saves, including a career-best six in the match against NAU.

UNM has had five goal scorers, led by Presley Devey with three goals, Nicole Anderson with two and one each from Alysa Whelchel and Ellie Robinson. Natalie DeGagne has assisted on three of the goals with Whelchel, Kennedy Brown, Robinson and Devey each credited with an assist.

DEVEY DELIVERS
As noted previously, Presley Devey scored a goal in three-straight matches, with all three being the game-winner.

Of note, her two goals in the first three matches of the season tied her career best in any of her three seasons (scored two goals last year), and her five points the week of Aug. 22 and Aug. 25 already surpassed her career best in points.

She leads the Lobos in points (seven), goals (three), shots (22) and shots on goal (tied for team high at seven) and is tied for third in assists (one).

Devey is averaging 0.88 points per match, 2.75 shots per match, 0.38 goals per match in 459 minutes.

Devey is tied for eighth in the MW in goals per match. Her three game-winning goals is the most by any player in the MW. Nationally, her three game-winning goals is tied for 11th by any player.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
There have been several firsts for some Lobos this season:
Alysa Whelchel scored her first career goal against Oregon with Presley Devey contributing on the goal for her first career assist.

Kennedy Brown recorded her first point on an assist against San Diego on Sept. 1.

Callie Droitsch, Samantha Corrie and Taryn Robles all made their first career start in the season opener at New Mexico State. Droitsch earned her first win, a shutout against UC Riverside.

Devey finished with three points in the Oregon match to set a career high.

Ashley Moody made her collegiate debut in the match against UTEP on Sept. 8 and made her first collegiate start in the next match at NAU, playing the full 90 minutes

Devey played a career-high 74 minutes in the match at NAU and 59 minutes against UNLV. She needs eight minutes to surpass her career high in minutes in a season (465:09 last season).

Ellie Robinson recorded her first game-winning goal against UTEP on Sept. 8 and finished with a career-best three points in the match.

Alejandra Puerto made her first appearance as a Lobo against UNLV on Sept. 26, playing 27 minutes.

NATALIE NOTES
UNM midfielder Natalie DeGagne is a veteran on the roster, with the Washington native in her fifth season with the Lobos. DeGagne has logged 3913:08, the most of any Lobo on the team, and has played in 67 matches with 42 starts.  She has started the last 34 matches dating back to Colorado College on Oct. 2, 2022.

DeGagne’s production has increased in the last three seasons and has scored at least one goal in every season, which has held true this season. DeGagne has contributed at least one point in four of the matches in 2024, opening 2024 with a goal in the season opener at New Mexico State with a goal in the 28’ and added an assist in three matches (against UC Riverside, Oregon and San Diego).

DeGagne leads the team in assists (three) and is second in shots (21) and in points (five). She has also played the full 90 minutes four times this season (New Mexico State, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and at NAU), 76 minutes against Oregon, 70 minutes against San Diego, 87 against UTEP and 81 against UNLV for 672 (93.3%) on the season. The Lobo is averaging 0.63 points per match, 2.63 shots per match and 0.38 assists per match with four shots in each of the last two matches and four shots in three matches on the season.

She is fifth in the MW in assists per match and tied for seventh in assists.

UP NEXT: The Lobos are on the road for their next four matches.