by Matthew Kappus
Daily Lobo
After a week of two-a-day training sessions and a pair of exhibition games, the women's soccer team is dog tired - just don't call them underdogs.
"We may have been a couple of years ago," sophomore Markee Nobriga said, "but I think with the incoming freshmen and our returning team, with the experience that we have, I think we're going to do really, really well this season."
Despite coming off two winning seasons, the Lobos are forecasted to be a middle-of-the-pack team in the conference. A preseason coaches' poll placed them fifth among the eight teams in the Mountain West Conference.
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But after beating Eastern New Mexico 2-0 on Friday and West Texas A&M 4-0 on Saturday, the Lobos looked like anything but underdogs.
It is a young team. Only three seniors are returning from last year's team. Of the 26 on the
roster, 14 are freshmen.
Though the squad is young, the freshman players have already made an impact.
Freshman Megan Bodenheimer scored the game's first point with a rebound strike 10 yards from the goal. In the second half, freshman Jennifer Nielsen connected with freshman Kate Wyrick for the insurance goal.
Alexis Ball made the assist to fellow freshman Katie McKernan on Saturday for the first point against West Texas A&M.
Ball got a goal and another assist in the second half while Nobriga and Wyrick added goals of their own.
McKernan, a redshirt freshman, said on Friday she was proud of the younger players on the team.
"All of our freshmen have done an incredible job of stepping up," she said. "They are learning
so fast."
McKernan also shrugged off the low expectations for the team.
"We like being the underdog," she said. "People can underestimate us all they want, but we're just going to throw it back
at them."
As the Lobos prepare for the final exhibition game against the nationally ranked Texas Longhorns on Friday, McKernan said building new strategy into UNM's offense will be important.
"Our freshman forwards are going to be key for us," she said. "Working with them, producing combinations at the top, obviously scoring more and being more creative is going to be the key for us this preseason and fall."
Head coach Kit Vela, who enters her seventh season at UNM, applauded the team. But she said there was room for
improvement.
"I was pleased with their effort and attitude," Vela said on GoLobos.com. "We were fatigued but got our legs back in the second half and played much better. We gained a lot of experience in both these games, but we still have a lot of work to do."
Vela's coaching paid dividends Saturday when the Lobos throttled their opponent with three goals in the second half.
The Lobos' long, tiring week seemed to bring the team
together.
"I just had to tell myself to keep it going for the girls," Nobriga said. "Everybody is going through the same thing - you're not the only one hurting all week."
