The University of New Mexico Lobo hockey team delivered a dominating two-game performance over the Texas Tech Red Raiders at the Outpost Ice Arena, outscoring its opponent 30-3 over the weekend.
New Mexico improved to 5-2-1 overall on the season after a 19-2 victory on Friday night — a game in which the Lobos scored more goals than its opponent had shots attempted. And on Saturday, the team continued to put on a scoring clinic
The Lobos needed just 33 seconds to light the lamp, as team captain Nate Taglialegami skated through defenders and beat the goalie for a quick 1-0 lead.
Left wing John Kelly added another UNM goal, but the Red Raiders continued to stick around and trailed just 2-0 as the first period drew to a close.
But New Mexico closed out the frame strong, pouring in three quick goals in just over three minutes to race out to a 5-0 advantage through one period.
Texas Tech got on the board with a goal at the 17:59 mark in the second period to inch closer and pull within 5-1 on the scoreboard. UNM head coach Grant Harvey yelled out for his team to turn up the pressure and got almost an immediate response. The Lobos scored twice in the second period on their way to six unanswered goals and lead 7-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Taglialegami scored his third goal of the night, earning the hat trick and putting his squad up 9-1. And added another just seconds later. His teammate, Jarrod Ronquillo, pulled a hat trick as well — ending the scoring with a blast into the net to collect the 11-1 win.
Nathan Russell, who was filling in for starter James Bostian, had a solid performance at goalie. He was a Brik wall and continually denied the limited Red Raider scoring chances, allowing just on goal on 17 shots faced. Russell got plenty of support though as UNM outshot Texas Tech 74-17 for the game.
Taglialegami said sometimes games like the ones this weekend are tough because he craves close, competitive matches, but was happy the team didn't veer off of what it normally does.
Despite the lop-sided victories, Harvey said there were some things he wasn't particularly happy with. He said it's tough because he didn't want to take advantage of an opponent that was at a disadvantage personnel-wise, but wanted his team to be more physical.
"I am unhappy about how we wait and react to the other team," the head coach said. "We should be implementing physicality right from the get-go."
Harvey said this weekend may have been a setback in terms of progression, but the Lobos will get a tough test next time around when it faces UTEP, a division II hockey program. He said they are looking forward to the challenge and it will give them an idea of where the team stacks up against a similar caliber opponent.
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"UTEP is very strong and always has been he said. "We let a lot of odd-man rushes go down, so we're going to have to clean that area up of our game or they are going to capitalize on it."
The two teams will play in a Saturday-Sunday series in El Paso, Texas starting on Oct. 20, with both games taking place at 3:30 p.m.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers basketball and baseball and contributes content for various other sports as well. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Robert_Maler.
