As their conference season reaches the finish line, the University of New Mexico (10-6, 5-3 MW) is in second place in the conference standings, will take on Colorado State at home and then the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming.
The Lobos are second in the conference standings with 15 points — four points behind leader, San Jose State. The top six teams in the table qualify for the conference tournament, and the first and second seeds receive a bye to the semifinals.
Despite sitting in second place, the Lobos are only three points above sixth place UNLV. The standings are tight this year, and with three games left to play, much could still change.
The Lobos will take on Colorado State on Friday. The Rams (4-7-5, 2-3-3 MW) are coming off of a 2-0 win against Utah State and are ninth in the conference standings with nine points. The Rams can still qualify for the conference tournament but will need to pick up points in their remaining set of conference fixtures.
The Lobos are coming off of a split weekend which saw them fall 1-0 to Air Force and then beat Colorado College 2-1.
“It’s a big game for us,” UNM head coach Heather Dyche said when asked about Friday’s fixture. “We still have an opportunity to get a bye in the tournament, but it’ll probably mean that we have to win out which won’t be easy. Colorado State is on a roll right now and playing at Laramie is always difficult — it’s just under 8,000 feet.”
The Lobos have had nine different goal-scorers this season, and senior forward Claire Lynch leads the team with seven goals. The Albuquerque native has 23 career goals and is tied for third in program history for goals scored.
UNM senior defender Emily Chavez looks poised to make her 73rd appearance against Colorado State. Chavez has started every game of her Lobo career and has played 6,447 minutes. The senior captain is seventh in program history for minutes played and could overtake sixth place Ashley Lowry (6,564, 2003-06).
After playing the Rams on Friday, the Lobos will travel to Wyoming to face the University of Wyoming (7-7-2, 3-4-1 MW) on Sunday. The Cowgirls are coming off of back to back 3-1
losses against Boise State and Utah State, and are without a win in three games.
"The most important thing for us right now is that we still control our own fate," Wyoming head coach Pete Cuadrado said in a release. "With the matchups in the conference this week, we have a real chance to move up.”
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The Cowgirls are eighth in the conference standings with 10 points, only two points behind UNLV. The Lobos lost to the Cowgirls at home last season 3-0, a crucial result that kept Wyoming in the top six and helped seal the Lobos’ place outside the top six.
The Lobos will take on Colorado State on Friday, Oct. 20 at the UNM Soccer Complex at 1 p.m. MDT, and will then play Wyoming on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. MDT in Laramie, Wyoming.
Matthieu Cartron is a sports beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s soccer and men’s tennis. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cartron_matt.
