Lobos Close MW Schedule with San Diego State on Senior Night Thursday

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos close the MW schedule and the regular season on Thursday night at home against San Diego State, with two big items on the agenda: Senior Night and a spot in the MW Tournament. The start time is set for 7:30 p.m. with streaming on the Mountain West Network.

UNM enters the match 7-5-5. 3-4-3 in the Mountain West and currently holding the sixth spot and one point above three teams in the standings: Wyoming, Colorado College and Nevada. The Lobos defeated Nevada and tied with both Wyoming and Colorado College.

The sixth spot is the only spot left to be determined for the MW Tournament with SDSU fourth with 18 points and UNLV unable to be passed in fifth with 16 points.

However, all four teams have scenarios in which they can clinch the final spot on Thursday. Colorado College plays at Air Force on Wednesday night, Wyoming plays at Colorado State and Nevada plays at UNLV.

The simple scenario for UNM is win and in, but the Lobos can also earn the No. 6 seed with a tie and Colorado College, Nevada and Wyoming all losing or tying. There are also scenarios that advantage the Lobos with a loss, as long as Colorado College, Nevada and Wyoming all tie; Nevada and Wyoming ties and Colorado College loses, and Colorado College and Nevada tie and Wyoming loses.

CALL IT EVEN
Against MW opponents, the Lobos have scored 14 goals and allowed 14 goals, and in addition both UNM and its opponents have taken 57 shots on goal.

UNM has scored six goals in the first half, eight goals in the second half, while opponents have scored seven goals in each half.

In the month of October, the Lobos have scored nine goals while allowing nine goals.

SENIOR SENDOFF
Thursday night will mark Senior Night for 13 Lobos: Alli Davis, Margaux Clarke, Courtney Fernau, Ellie Robinson, Natalie DeGagne, Logan Nicholson, Dalis Bruce, Sophia Roberts, Taryn Robles, Zaria Katesigwa, Kenzie Fotiades, Brae Cole, Alix Hailey.

SERIES vs. SAN DIEGO STATE
The Lobos are 10-15-9 all-time against the Aztecs, 6-4-6 at home. UNM is 2-1-2 in the last five matches in the series and 4-4-2 in the last 10 in the series.  In the last three home matches, the Lobos tied 0-0, won 2-0 and won 6-0.

Coach Dyche is 4-4-2 against SDSU, 2-2-1 at home.

SDSU leads the series in goals scored 46-39. UNM is 5-7 in one-goal matches.

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

In addition, the Lobos have outshot opponents 57-27 in the first 45 minutes and 52-43 in the second 45 minutes for a 109-70 edge (15.6-10.0 average) in shots in the six wins and outscored opponents 17-5 in the wins.

When it comes to shots on goal, the Lobos have outshot their opponents 47-24 in that category.

UNM led for 79:08 in the match against UCR, 84:12 in the match against Oregon, 84:38 against San Diego, 85:49 against Nevada and 85:39 against Fresno State, for a total of 419:26. In the win at Air Force, UNM led for only 2:36.

In both the Oregon, San Diego and Fresno State matches, the Lobos scored in the first six minutes with Alysa Whelchel scoring at 5:48 against the Ducks and Presley Devey scoring at 5:22 against USD and in 4:21 against Fresno State. Devey also added another goal against Oregon at 9:10, a goal against UC Riverside at 10:52 and scored two in the first six minutes against Nevada.

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.

In UNM’s wins, Devey has scored seven goals with two assists for 16 points, Nicole Anderson has scored four goals, Alysa Whelchel three goals, Natalie DeGagne one, Margaux Clarke one and Ellie Robinson scored one.

DEVEY DELIVERS
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.

Devey recorded her first hat trick against Nevada on Sept. 29, finishing with a career-high six points on three shots on goal and did so in 43 minutes of playing time.

She leads the Lobos in points (19), goals (eight), shots (45) and shots on goal (20) and is tied for first in assists (three). Devey has five more goals, 14 more shots and five more shots on goal than the next Lobo in each category

Devey is averaging 1.12 points per match, 2.65 shots per match, 0.47 goals per match in 1080 minutes.

Her 19 points this season is almost five times her point total from last season and her goal total is four times her goals last season, doing so in fewer shots on goal than last season (12 last season, 10 this season).

In conference matches, Devey is tied for third in the MW in goals (five) and in goals per match (0.50). She is tied for fourth in points (12) and points per match (1.20) and tied for fifth in shots (27). On the season, she is tied for third in goals and third in goals per match. Her 19 points are fourth in the conference, and her points per match is fourth among all players in the conference. Her four game-winning goals is tied for the most by any player in the MW and tied for ninth in program history.

Nationally, her four game-winning goals is tied for 22nd by any player.

Devey has recorded at least one point in eight matches this season.

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 4666:44, the most of any Lobo on the team, and has played in 76 matches with 51 starts, also the most on the team.

She has started the last 43 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. Last season was DeGagne’s best to date behind three goals and three assists for nine points, an improvement from 2022 where she scored two goals and was credited with one assist for five points. Her minutes have also increased in the last two seasons, playing 1463 in 2022 and 1406 in 2023 after playing a combined 370 minutes in 23 matches her first two seasons. She has played 1425:19 this season in 17 matches.

DeGagne has contributed at least one point in six of the matches in 2024, opening 2024 with a goal in the season opener at New Mexico State with a goal in the 28th minute and added an assist in three matches (against UC Riverside, Oregon and San Diego). She scored her second goal of the season to tie the match at one at Boise State in the 40th minute and her third goal to tie the match at Air Force at 37:59.

She has matched her best point production in a season with nine points, matching her three goals and three assists from last season.

DeGagne is tied for the team high in assists (three) and is second in shots (31) and tied for second in points (nine). She has also played the full 90 minutes six times this season (New Mexico State, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, at NAU, at Boise State and at Utah State), 76 minutes against Oregon, 70 minutes against San Diego, 87 against UTEP and at Air Force, 86 against Fresno State, 85 against SJSU, 81 against UNLV, 80 at Colorado State, 88 at Wyoming and 72 against Nevada for 1426 (93.2%) on the season. The Lobo is averaging 0.53 points per match, 1.82 shots per match and 0.18 assists per match with four shots in three matches on the season.