The UNM women’s soccer team has the chance to put an inconsistent season behind it when it faces UNLV on Saturday.
The Lobos took a nose dive midway through the season after they lost three games in a row, but they bounced back with a four game unbeaten streak, including three wins and a tie to San Diego State University (SDSU) last week.
Freshman Brianna Martinez, who has two goals this season, said she feels that the Lobos were able to improve from the losses.
“I think we just started to play our game. We learned a lot from those games, and we’ve grown from them,” Martinez said.
In the winning streak the Lobos beat UC Riverside 2-1, Oklahoma 2-1, and New Mexico State 4-0.
However, it was different against SDSU as the game ended in a 0-0 draw after double overtime, the Lobos’ fifth overtime game this year.
While it may not be a win, Martinez said she is happy with the outcome and she felt that SDSU was the strongest competition in the Mountain West Conference (MWC).
“It was our first conference game, and they were ranked to beat us,” Martinez said.
With the draw, UNM is now 6-4-3 on the year and are third in their conference behind Wyoming (8-4-2) and UNLV (5-7-2).
MWC defensive player of the week, Lauren Irwin, said she knows the UNLV Rebels are a tough team, but the Lobos will be ready to handle them.
“They’re a strong team and they’re going to be tough to beat, but we just need to worry about ourselves and we’ll do great,” Irwin said.
The Lobos should have home advantage because they are 3-1-1 this season at home. The Rebels are 1-5-1 on the road and have been outscored by eight goals and been shut out four times.
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This game may not be against one of the best teams record wise, but Martinez said she feels the Lobos has something to prove against UNLV.
“I think we just want to come out and win this game, so everyone else knows we’re going to be a tough competition in conference and we’re going to win it,” Martinez said.
Up Next
Women’s Soccer vs. UNLV
Saturday, 5 p.m.
University Stadium
