The UNM women's soccer team rode a dominant defensive effort to defeat the Air Force Academy 1-0 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Championship tournament in Provo, Utah, Wednesday.
The Lobos (11-7-1) took control of the game early, clamping down on the Falcons while producing several goal opportunities for themselves. UNM junior forward Marte Dolva scored the game-winning goal in the 18th minute. Dolva took a cross the right half of the field from sophomore midfielder LeAnne Hendren and flicked the ball past Air Force goalkeeper J.J. Wolf.
Wolf had nine saves in the game. The Lobo defense kept the UNM well-defended, so much so that sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Winters didn't have to make a single save to earn the shutout.
The Lobos, who out-shot the Falcons 14 to five for the game, had several other scoring opportunities. Both sophomore forward Laura Hafner and freshman forward Nicole Pitcock missed on close chances to add to the UNM lead. Hafner banged a shot over the crossbar in the opening minutes of the second half. Pitcock connected on a cross late in the game, but was called offsides.
Junior midfielder Abbie Partch led the Lobos with four shots. Dolva, senior midfielder Michelle Longmire, junior midfielder Erchen Theys and sophomore midfielder Rachael Addison all finished the game with two shots apiece.
UNM advances to the second round of the MWC tourney, where it meets the University of Utah at 4:30 p.m. today. Air Force finishes the season with a 7-12-0.
Wednesday's win was the Lobos first ever victory in the first round of a conference tournament. UNM had lost seven straight opening round games dating back to the Lobos participation in the Western Athletic Conference.
Utah 1, Wyoming 0: The Cowgirls kept the Utes at bay for 88 minutes in Wednesday's MWC first round game, but Utah (12-2-3) proved to be the irresistible force, as senior forward Shauna Gurr-Bingham got the game-winning shot past the Wyoming defense. The Utes out-shot the Wyoming (4-13-2) an incredible 30 to six - 10 came from the foot of Gurr-Bingham. Cowgirl goalkeeper Lori Scheider finished the game with 14 saves.
SDSU 2, UNLV 1: The Aztecs' Kim Castellanos scored on a penalty kick in the 87th minute to break a 1-1 tie and send SDSU (13-6-0) to the second round of the MWC tourney. After a scoreless first half, the Aztecs struck first when in the 60th minute Shawni Flint took a pass from Arinda Alvarez for the goal. UNLV (10-8-1) equalized two minuets later when senior Annii Magliulo scored off a rebound in front of the SDSU goal. The Aztecs out-shot the Rebels 16-15. UNLV had 10 saves to SDSU's 6. The Aztecs play top-seeded, 22nd-ranked Brigham Young University tonight at 7:30
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UNM places two on All-MWC team: Sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Winters and sophomore midfielder Rachael Addison were named to the All-MWC first team Wednesday. Junior forward Marte Dolva and senior midfielder Michelle Addison made the MWC second-team. BYU senior forward Jeni Viernes was named the MWC player-of-the-year. The Cougars' freshman midfielder Brooke Bowman was awarded freshman of the year while Utah head coach Rich Ma
