The UNM women's soccer team's tough defensive play could not overcome a stagnant offensive attack in a hard fought 2-1 overtime loss to Washington State University Sunday at the UNM Soccer Complex.
The improving Lobos (1-8-1) showed a lot of hustle and determination in sticking with a tough Washington State team. The defense shut down the Cougars' attack for most of the game, but a nice passing display in overtime ended the Lobos' upset bid.
Eight minutes into the overtime, Washington State's Kim Morgan received a pass in the middle of the field. She passed to teammate Rachel Rodrick and made a run toward the goal. Rodrick found her teammate streaking past several Lobo defenders and threaded a nice pass to Morgan. She received the pass just inside the 18-yard box and slipped a shot past UNM goalkeeper Shelly Hammock for the victory.
The Lobos stifled the Cougars with a physical, scrappy defense for most of the game. However, the offense suffered because of the hustle on defense as the Lobos could not muster any sort of consistent threat on the opposition's goal. The Lobos could only generate seven shots on goal.
"We're just not sophisticated enough yet with what we are trying to do, to do the right thing in tight situations; when the game is on the line," head coach Kit Vela said. "But we are getting better."
After trailing 1-0 at halftime, UNM came out and scored a quick goal in the second half to tie the score. Three minutes into the half, freshman LeAnne Hendren got a pass in the top left of the 18-yard box. She faked a cross that enabled her to get open and then sent a low cross toward the center of the goal. Cougar goalkeeper Lindsey Jorgensen came out to cut off the cross, but junior forward Michelle Nowfel stepped in front and tapped the ball into the goal.
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The tempo slowed down considerably after the goal as neither team took control of the game. Most of the second half was played in the midfield as both teams seemed content with sitting back and playing defense. Neither team had a serious threat in the second half.
Washington State came out strong in overtime, creating several scoring chances that were snuffed out by an aggressive Hammock, who finished with four saves. She came off her line several times to grab crosses. However, she was helpless in trying to stop the last attack of the Cougars.
"Our defense played great," Hammock said. "They were on it, they were focused the whole time. Just basically a couple of break downs and (the Cougars) were able to execute off of them and good teams can do that."
The Lobos burst out with plenty of energy to start the game as the defense stayed in front of the Cougars and were able to steal numerous passes. UNM was able to create some offensive excitement several times down the right wings to junior midfielder Michelle Longemire.
The Cougars' pressing style finally started to wear down the Lobos late in the first half and it turned into a goal. The Cougars' Katarina Stroh raced toward a through ball on the right wing by a teammate just outside the 18-yard box.
Hammock came out to try and stop Stroh, but she slid and took Stroh out inside the box for a penalty kick. Stroh calmly put the ball into the back of the net on the penalty kick
On Friday, UNM lost on the road to Colorado College 2-0. The Lobos missed an early penalty kick and after that, Colorado College took advantage of the momentum and scored early in the first and second half to win.
