Lobos Close Week at No. 12 Utah State Sunday

LOGAN, Utah— The Lobos close the week on the road with their first ranked opponent of the season against No. 12 Utah State on Sunday. The start time is set for noon with streaming on the Mountain West Network and live stats available.

Heading into the contest, UNM is 5-3-2 on the season, 1-2-0 in conference and USU is 11-0-2 on the season, 2-0-1 in conference.

SERIES vs. UTAH STATE
The Lobos are 8-3-3 all-time against the Aggies, 3-1-2 on the road with the Lobos holding a six-match win streak from Sept. 25. 2015 to March 13, 2021. USU won the last meeting 2-0 on Oct. 5, 2023 with the last time the two teams met in Logan ending in a 0-0 tie.

UNM is 6-1 in one-goal matches with three matches in the series ending in a 0-0 draw.

Coach Dyche is 8-2-1 against USU, 3-1-1 in Logan.

HISTORY vs. RANKED TEAMS
UNM is 5-26-5 all-time against ranked opponents, 2-16-2 in matches on the road and 3-14-5 against teams ranked 11-25.

The last time the Lobos faced a ranked opponent was Aug. 18, 2022 against No. 6 Rutgers, a 1-0 loss.

The last win against a ranked opponent was against No. 22 Texas Tech on Aug. 25, 2019, a 1-0 win.

The highest ranked team the Lobos have defeated was No. 6 BYU in 2005, also a 1-0 win.

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

Natalie DeGagne has recorded an assist in three matches and has a point in five matches this season with a goal in the season opener and in the match against Boise State.

DeGagne has started the last 36 matches dating back to Colorado College on Oct. 2, 2022.

The Lobos have used six different lineup variations this season.

Four Lobos have played over 90% of the minutes this season: Kennedy Brown (825’), Fiona Jenkins (841’), DeGagne (834’) and Callie Droitsch (898’) with five playing over 800 minutes.

Six Lobos have started all 10 matches this season: Devey, DeGagne, Nicole Anderson, Brown, Jenkins, and Droitsch.

UNM had six players play the full 90 against Boise State: Droitsch, Jenkins, Ashley Moody, DeGagne, Taryn Robles and Brown. Four field players played the fulltime against UCSB: Jenkins, Morgan Juran, Robles and 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, Moody, DeGagne, Brown and Juran played the full 90 at NAU with Droitsch playing the full 90 in net. In the match against Nevada, UNM had three players play the full 90 in defenders Robles, Jenkins and Moody.

SOPHOMORE SHOWCASE
The Lobos feature eight sophomores on the roster and of them, four have started all 10 matches, two have started nine and one has started seven.

Fiona Jenkins, Nicole Anderson, Callie Droitsch (redshirt) and Kennedy Brown (redshirt) have started all 10 matches as a sophomore with Jenkins playing 841 minutes, Droitsch playing 898 minutes in net and Brown playing 825 minutes. Anderson has played 627 minutes and has four goals on the season, the second most on the team, and has the second-most points on the team with eight. Whelchel has started nine matches and has three assists and five points, with her assists tied for the most on the team and her points tied for third. Juran has played 805 minutes in her first season with the Lobos and recorded her first career assist against Nevada for her first career points, adding another assist at Boise State to tie for the second-most assists on the team with two.

For Samantha Corrie, Whelchel and Droitsch, their first collegiate starts came this season.

In each match this season, the Lobos have started either six or seven sophomores with six matches with seven sophomores starting. In the NAU match, with freshman Ashley Moody starting, the Lobos had a total of eight underclassmen starting.

JURAN, JENKINS AND ROBLES WILL DEFEND YOU
UNM defenders Fiona Jenkins, Morgan Juran and Taryn Robles have been a solid and steady presence on the pitch with Jenkins playing 841 minutes this season and started all 10, 786 minutes for Robles who has started nine matches, and Juran at 805 minutes, who has started the last nine.

Jenkins has played 90 minutes in eight matches, Juran in five and Robles in five.

The Lobo defense didn’t allow a shot by UC Riverside until the 55th minute and just one shot on goal, and allowed just one shot on goal again against San Diego. UNM allowed just five shots against USD and six against UCSB and New Mexico State.

During the six-match unbeaten streak, the Lobos held opponents to 52 shots, 17 on goal, and allowed two goals. In the first half of the matches, opponents took a total of 24 shots, while the Lobo offense outscored opponents 4-1. UNM also shutout five of the six opponents in the final 45 minutes.

FRESHMAN JOINS THE DEFENSE FIRM
Ashley Moody has joined the defense of late, starting the last four matches and playing a total of 419 minutes, including three matches of 90 minutes.

The freshman made her first appearance against UTEP on Sept. 8 playing 62 minutes, followed by her first start at Northern Arizona on Sept. 19, where she played the full 90.

In the last four starts, Moody has played 90, 87, 90 and 90 minutes.

UP NEXT: MW play continues on the road for the Lobos with trips to Air Force (Oct. 10) and Colorado College (Oct. 13).