Devey's Hat Trick and Anderson's Brace Leads Lobos Past Wolf Pack

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobo offense was rolling from the onset of Sunday’s match against Nevada, scoring two goals in the first six minutes and three goals in the first 29 minutes en route to a 5-2 win over the Wolf Pack.

Presley Devey paced the Lobos with a hat trick, registering a brace in the first 5:59, the first Lobo to record a hat trick since Jadyn Edwards did it against Cal State Bakersfield in 2022. Nicole Anderson recorded her first brace with a goal in the 29^th minute and in the 55^th minute for a career high in goals for the sophomore. Additionally, Anderson accounted for the game-winning goal, with both of her game-winning goals coming against Nevada.

Of note, it was the first time UNM had two multiple-goal scorers in a match since Sept. 28, 2008 against Central Arkansas (Kate Wyrick and Zaneta Wyne) and the first time the Lobos have scored five goals against Nevada since Oct. 14, 2018 (5-1) and the most goals scored since Sept. 9, 2021 when the Lobos scored six goals against NAU.

Devey got the scoring started at the 4:11 mark, with Morgan Juran finding Devey towards the arc at the top of the box, who turned to her right and sent a shot to the top right of the net off of her left foot. It was Juran’s first career assist and the fastest goal scored this season by a Lobo, topping the goal Devey scored at the 5:22 mark on Sept. 1 against San Diego.

The Lobo made it two less than two minutes later off of a Nevada turnover, with the Lobo forward finding space and firing from distance, getting a little bit of luck as the ball hit off the left post, hitting the back of the Wolf Pack goalie and going into the back of the net to make it 2-0 in the first six minutes.

Anderson had a chance to score a goal in the 13^th minute after Devey dribbled down the left side of the field towards the box and found Anderson alone in the middle of the box, but Anderson’s shot was right at the diving Nevada keeper, who while making the save couldn’t contain the ball. A second effort on the loose ball by Anderson trickled towards the left post of the goal with the Nevada defense stopping it short of the goal line.

The Lobos had two more good looks in the 24^th and 25^th minutes by Courtney Fernau and Anderson, respectively, with the keeper making saves.

A corner kick provided Anderson’s first goal of the match at the 28:33 mark, with a header by a Nevada player falling into free space with Anderson the closest player to it. With the ball landing at her right foot, Anderson went bottom left of the goal, with the ball getting past the diving keeper and while it went off a Nevada defender’s foot, she was standing inside the goal with the ball deflected to the top of the netting.

Alejandra Puerto won a foot race to a loose ball on the left side of the field in the 37^th minute, gaining a step on her Nevada defender and was able to turn towards the goal for a one-on-one chance with the Nevada keeper in front of the goal, but her shot was kick saved and went out of play for the final shot on goal in the half for the Lobos.

UNM outshot Nevada 16-4 in the first half with nine on goal to one for Nevada, led by five shots from Anderson, all of which were on goal, and three shots by Devey with two on goal.

The goals came in pairs again in the second half as Anderson recorded her first brace at 54:46, starting with a free kick by Callie Droitsch, who sent it past midfield and eventually was won by Alysa Whelchel, who passed it ahead to Anderson who was breaking towards the middle of the field and the goal, with the Lobo getting a right foot on it and sliding it bottom left and past the outstretched hand of the Nevada keeper to make it 4-0. The goal was Anderson’s fourth of the season and was Whelchel’s third assist of the season, tying the team high in assists.

A cross from Fiona Jenkins to Devey in the box at 56:16 led to Devey being taken down and the Lobos being awarded a penalty kick with Devey stepping up to take it. She notched the hat trick with a shot to the bottom right of the net for her team-high sixth goal of the season.

Anderson had an opportunity to make it two hat tricks with a chance at 68:13, again set up by a Droitsch free kick. The keeper’s kick went off the head of Puerto and right to Anderson, with the Lobo trying to tip the ball past the approaching keeper to the bottom left. However, the ball rolled inches to the left of the post.

Nevada added two goals late in the 77^th and 84^th minutes to prevent the clean sheet, but the Lobo victory was never in doubt as the time expired for the 5-2 Lobo victory.

Each team took 10 shots in the second half to give UNM 26 shots in the match, 12 on goal, compared to 14 shots for Nevada and five on goal.

Sunday marked consecutive matches that the Lobos finished with 26 shots, with the 12 on goal a season high. Anderson led the Lobos with a career-high eight shots and seven on goal, with Devey finishing with five shots and three on goal.

The Lobos (5-2-2, 1-1-0) are on the road for their next four matches, starting with Boise State on Thursday at 7 p.m. MT.