SAN JOSE, Calif.— Alèjandra Puerto picked up where she left off in the Mountain West opener, scoring the opening goal of Thursday night’s match at San José State in the 53rd minute, with the Spartans answering in the 60th minute for the 1-1 draw.
Sherry Diep and Nicole Anderson set up the goal 52:55 in with Diep finding Anderson on the far side of the field. Anderson turned and dribbled to the corner, gaining a step on her Spartan defender, turning the corner and crossing the ball into the box with a streaking Puerto getting her left foot on it and sending it bottom left corner for the goal.
It was the senior’s seventh goal of the season and the first career assist for Diep and the first assist of the season and the fourth career assist for Anderson.
However, San José State responded at the 59:23 point of the contest on a cross into the box with the Spartan heading the ball past Jasmin Gonzalez-Rutt.
The Lobos outshot the Spartans 35-4 in the match, with 13 shots in the first half and 22 in the second half, compared to one for the Spartans in the first and three in the second. Of the 35 shots, seven were on target with Alysa Whelchel taking eight shots and three on goal and Anderson taking 12 shots with two on goal.
UNM had opportunities early with a shot by Anderson blocked and Savanah Sanchez being fouled in the box 9:59 into the first half to set up a penalty kick, taken by Whelchel with the Lobo going low right and was saved by the Spartan keeper.
The Lobos had consecutive shots by Sanchez and Whelchel blocked six seconds apart in the 22nd minute, amounting to a corner kick with the Lobos unable to garner a shot. The Lobos took seven more shots in the half with one requiring a save by the SJSU goalkeeper and three being blocked for the scoreless half.
UNM resumed its offensive pressure as play resumed with a shot by Macie Harris brought in by the SJSU goalkeeper and a shot by Gabby Beaudry wide left in the 49th minute. A Whelchel shot in the 52nd minute sailed high before Puerto broke the tie with her goal.
After the Spartans tied the match, Whelchel had a chance to put the Lobos back in front on a header that forced the SJSU goalkeeper to dive to her left to make the save. Following that, the Lobos had three shots blocked on consecutive attempts, a shot by Anderson went wide left, a shot was blocked and a shot by Sanchez went wide right. UNM had two final shots blocked and a final shot by Celina Frenz with less than a minute left sailed high over the goal for the final score.
Of note, Thursday marked the fifth consecutive match with the Spartans that ended in a draw, as well as the third consecutive time and the fourth time ending 1-1 in that span.
UNM (5-2-3, 1-0-1) remains in California to face Fresno State on Sunday afternoon.