by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
UNM women's head soccer coach Kit Vela is ready for the five-year philosophy she has had to pay off starting Friday.
The Lobos will take on the Canisius College Griffs in the Caroline Pardee Invitational in the first game of the season Friday. The University of Akron will host the tournament, which also includes UNM, Citadel and Canisius College.
"We have stuck with our philosophy for the past five years, which is hardworking, blue-collar, never-give-up soccer," Vela said. "The players believe in what we're doing, and we're hoping they have a great season, because they've worked really hard, and they deserve it."
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The winners of the tournament will advance to a championship game and the losers will play in a consolation game Sunday.
Vela said last year's momentum will continue in this weekend's game. The Lobos finished the season with a Mountain West Conference championship appearance and were one win away from competing in the NCAA Tournament.
Senior Ashley Lowery said the team is ready to perform at a high level in this weekend's invitational.
"It's the beginning of the season, but I think that we're in a really good spot to play well this weekend," Lowery said. "We lost some girls to graduation from our back line, including our two outside backs, and a really good goalie in Kristen (Winters). This weekend's game will be a great way for the girls to get experience back there."
Lowery said because it has some new players, the team needs to communicate better. Some of the seniors, including herself, need to be more vocal on the field to direct traffic, she said.
Vela also said she plans to play some freshmen this season. Some of them are going to get some minutes early and others will be worked in as the season goes along, she said.
Early this season, the Lobos will be playing a tough schedule to prepare them for their MWC competition. The schedule includes six NCAA Tournament teams from last year - Purdue University, the University of Texas, the University of Texas-El Paso, the University of Washington and Washington State University.
"Playing the tough teams helps prepare us to compete against our rivals in the MWC," Vela said. "Having a schedule playing against big-name teams also helps with recruiting. And I believe to beat the best in the long term, we have to play the best."
Canisius isn't exactly top-caliber competition on paper, but all teams are dangerous at this point in the season, Vela said.
This will be the first meeting between the two teams in school history.
Canisius College returns 14 letterwinners and nine starters from last year's team. In the preseason coaches' poll, the Griffs were picked eighth by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Senior Alanna Abeyta said the Lobos can beat Canisius College if they execute the way they want to.
"Canisius is very aggressive and direct with where they put the ball," Abeyta said. "We just have to stick to our game plan no matter what they throw at us, and we can come away with a win."
