If the UNM women’s first conference game is any indication, the Lobos might soon prove to the rest of the Mountain West Conference that their 8-1-2 nonconference start wasn’t just for show.
In UNM’s conference opener, the Lobos hosted Texas Christian University Saturday at the UNM Soccer Complex and bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 1-0 win.
“Last week, everybody was all over us that we lost our first game to Northern Arizona, but that game was taken away from us,” said head coach Kit Vela. “We’re just happy to win our first conference game. They’re a good group and I hope we can continue this.”
With the victory, the Lobos improved to 9-1-2 overall and became only the second team in Vela’s tenure to win at least nine games. The last squad to do it was in 2002.
TCU matched up evenly with the Lobos, and it was one of the toughest games UNM had all season, Vela said.
But the Lobos prevailed with the help of their most powerful scorer, Jennifer Williams, who scored her ninth goal of the season — and her sixth game-winner — in the opening minute of the second half.
A back-heel pass from Alexis Ball caught Williams in stride and allowed her to outmaneuver TCU’s goalkeeper Kelsey Waters.
Williams capitalized on the opportunity, giving UNM a 1-0 advantage.
“I flicked it on to Lex, and she held onto it and heel-passed it right to my left foot, and I was about 18 yards out, and I just finished off to the corner left,” Williams said. “It was just so incredible. It was just the most perfect play.”
Williams continues to climb UNM’s leaderboard. Her 13th career goal tied her for fifth place in the school’s record books. Her six game-winners put her in second place all-time for game-winners in a season, and her 23 points put her in fifth place all-time for points in a season.
But Williams’ day was almost marred by misfortune. In the 86th minute, she went down hard after a collision with Waters. Play stopped for a few minutes while the UNM trainers tended Williams’ knee.
“I’m still in a little bit of pain, but I’ll live,” she said. “I’ll be good.”
With seven games still left on the schedule, Williams said she’ll try to keep breaking records, but the team’s success is most important.
“Just to get six game-winners in a season and doing extremely well is an amazing feeling, and I absolutely love it,” she said. “But I’m not doing it alone. I just have to finish it off for the team.”
UNM will face Wyoming on Thursday at the UNM Soccer Complex.
“There is a lot more to come,” Williams said. “It’s going to be really exciting.”
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