Despite its 5-1 loss to Brigham Young University in the Mountain West Conference Championship Saturday, the UNM women's soccer team has plenty to be proud of this season.
The Lobos finished with their best record in five seasons, 12-8-1 and advanced to a championship game for only the second time ever. They also earned their second straight winning record in conference with a 3-2-1 finish.
After placing four players on the MWC All-Conference team, UNM placed three on the All-Tournament team. Goalkeeper Kristen Winters was named Outstanding Goalkeeper of the tourney. The sophomore had two shutouts - against second-seed Utah and sixth-seed Air Force Academy. Junior forward Marte Dolva and senior midfielder Michelle Longmire were also named to the All-Tournament team.
Lobo head coach Kit Vela said she was disappointed that none of UNM's defenders were named to the team despite their outstanding work in the tournament.
"It would've been nice if one defender had gotten on there," she said. "But we're happy having three on there. That's the most ever in the history of the program. Kristen was fantastic, but if it weren't for our defenders she'd have seen a lot more shots."
BYU senior forward Jeni Viernes was named the tournament's MVP.
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Viernes scored four of the Cougars' five goals in defeating the Lobos in the championship game Saturday. BYU (16-5-0) defeated San Diego State University 9-2 Thursday to advance to Saturday's game. Vela said the Cougars' easy game benefited them greatly.
"They got to rest their starters early Thursday and we had two tough games," she said.
Viernes scored BYU's first goal in the 16th minute, capitalizing on a mistake by UNM's Winters, who slipped and allowed the ball into the penalty box. The Lobos equalized in the 25th minute on a goal by sophomore midfielder LeAnne Hendren. Eight minutes later, the Cougars got another goal when Viernes headed in a cross to make the score 2-1. Viernes secured the hat trick just two minutes before halftime, drawing Winters away from her line to make the score 3-1 at the break.
"The third goal took the wind out of us," Vela said. "On the first goal, we had a nice combination to get there. We had some momentum going. When they got the third in, it took some enthusiasm out of us. We were tired, playing three games in four days. It's easier to keep going when you think you're still in it. We played tough in the second half, but it wasn't enough."
The Lobos had opportunities in the second half, but weren't able to finish. Longmire missed on a shot that went wide in the 59th minute.
BYU continued with its pressure, eventually breaking through in the 79th minute when Viernes scored her fourth goal of the game.
The Cougars added one more goal in the 87th minute when Lydia Ojuka took a pass and got a shot past Winters. For the game, Winters made eight saves. BYU out-shot the Lobos 20 to five. Viernes had eight shots.
UNM now waits to see if its tournament run was enough to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Women's College Cup. The 64-team bracket will be announced at 4:30 today.
Vela said that because the Lobos did not get a win over the ranked teams they played this year, the chances are slim of an at-large pick. But she said it was encouraging that the team was talking about it.
"My gosh, who thought that we'd come in third and get to finals?" Vela said. "It's a bitter sweet ending. We won four games last year, this year we won 12. The fact that the team is talking about at-large bids and that they're not happy about being done is great. They're not ready to stop playing."
