Experiencing a mixed start to the 2017 campaign, the Lobos (1-1) will be hoping to put a couple of wins on the books on the road against New Mexico State and UTEP.
After beating CSU Pueblo in an exhibition game last week 3-1, UNM lost to the University of San Francisco 1-2 and beat Grand Canyon University 1-0 during the Lobo Invitational. In the previous season, the Lobos also split their first two games of the season.
How the Lobos respond on the road in the next couple of games will be crucial to the rest of the season. During the 2016 season, the Lobos were unable to increase their momentum from impressive and important victories — their largest winning streak was two games.
Despite the loss to the University of San Francisco, there are some signs that the current UNM squad is stronger than last year’s; the Lobos appear to be more solid at the back and aggressive offensively. In the first two games of the season, the Lobos averaged 19.5 shots per game compared to last year’s average of 14.2. The defense is also allowing fewer shots — 9.5 shots per game, compared to last year’s 13.1.
“We have the capability to score a multitude of ways this year,” head coach Heather Dyche said in a release. “Last year we could only score one or two ways.”
On Thursday evening, UNM will face Rio Grande rival New Mexico State in Las Cruces. The Aggies (1-0-1) won their first game of the season 2-1 at home to UTEP and are coming off of an away draw to Northern Illinois. UNM has conceded only one goal in the team’s last seven face offs with the Aggies, and last year, the Lobos won 2-0 at home. There are a combined 29 players from New Mexico on the NMSU (14) and UNM (15) rosters.
After playing against the Aggies, UNM will hit the road again and travel to El Paso, Texas to take on UTEP. The last time the two sides faced one another was in 2007, where they shared the spoils 2-2. The Miners (0-2) lost their opening game of the season 2-1 to NMSU in Las Cruces, New Mexico and lost by the same score to Abilene Christian at home. The Miners are coming off of a strong 2016 season which saw them string together 13 wins and seven losses.
Senior defender Emily Chavez, with 58 career appearances, could be set to make her 60th appearance for the Lobos on Sunday. The Albuquerque native has clocked over 5,000 minutes in her Lobo career and has started every game she has been featured in.
The Lobos will play NMSU in Las Cruces this Thursday at 5 p.m., and then the team will be back in action on Sunday against UTEP at 1 p.m.
Matthieu Cartron is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s soccer. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cartron_matt.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
