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Cassie Ulrich didn’t expect to walk into a firing zone.
The sophomore goalie for the New Mexico women’s soccer team made seven saves against Texas Tech, but her efforts didn’t save the Lobos from losing their home opener 1-0 on Friday night.
After UNM (1-1-0) was called for a foul in the second half, Texas Tech attacked quickly up the field. Texas senior midfielder Jessica Disabella took control of the ball, drove right atop the box, stopped, and drilled a shot into the upper left corner over the Lobo defense for the only goal of the game. The score came in the 88th minute.
“They countered fast and came at us,” Ulrich said. “We got a little unorganized, but in the end it was an excellent finish.”
The Lobos swiftly went into attack mode with only three minutes remaining. UNM pushed the ball up the field and, after a couple of deflections, freshman defender Brooke Webster secured the ball at the top of the box and unleashed a shot just over the Red Raiders’ goal.
Texas Tech (2-0-0) then secured the ball and ran out the clock to clinch the 1-0 victory.
“For an opener, for as many young players as we were playing, I thought we did well against a very experienced team,” head coach Kit Vela said afterward. “We need to keep working on some things.
We did some things, but we didn’t believe in it all the time — youths question themselves. I thought out battle was amazing. Our character, heart, integrity — we did some amazing things.”
Four Lobos earned their first collegiate minutes against the 24th-ranked Red Raiders, and Ulrich said the team still has much to learn.
“We got panicky at times,” she said. “It was very good for the first game. We have so much youth and energy and we’re expecting so much this season. We’re going to grow a lot this upcoming season.”
This was Ulrich’s first game action since her senior year at Rio Rancho High School. For the last two seasons she was under the wing of former-Mountain West Conference Defender of the Year Kelli Cornell. Ulrich said under Cornell’s tutelage she learned to always be confident.
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“I could’ve had some better distribution at times,” Ulrich said. “But I was confident going in and my communication was good. I’m pretty happy about it.”
For a majority of the game Texas Tech kept the pressure on UNM with an offensive attack that didn’t let up. The Red Raiders outshot the Lobos 18-4 and had 11 corner kicks compared to just one by UNM. In the second half alone, Texas Tech outshot UNM 11-2.
Texas Tech senior goalie Victoria Esson didn’t have to face one shot on goal against the Lobos. The loss breaks the Lobos’ 13-game unbeaten streak at Lobo Field.
“We’re trying to feel out (our offense) a little bit,” Vela said. “Our last pass wasn’t quite what we were expecting, but then again every attacking player is a sophomore or a freshman. That’s why we scheduled the way we did, so we can play the best there is.”
UNM picks up 1-0 win over NMSU
The Lobos earned their first win of the season with a 1-0 overtime victory against the Aggies in Las Cruces on Saturday.
Sophomore midfielder Dylann O’Connor drilled the game winner with 38 seconds left in the first overtime.
