New Mexico put itself in position for a first-round bye in the Mountain West women’s soccer tournament after capturing two key wins in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Friday night’s win against Colorado College secured a conference tournament bid for UNM and, benefiting from a San Jose State loss earlier on Friday, New Mexico now sits in second place in the standings. Sunday’s 3-0 win over Air Force kept the Lobos in the hunt for the No. 2 seed.
San Diego State clinched the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament, which the Aztecs host on Nov. 3-7, with a 3-0 victory over Colorado College on Sunday. UNM (9-7-1, 7-2-1 MW) hosts SDSU in next Friday’s season finale.
San Jose State stayed one point behind New Mexico in the standings with its Sunday win over Nevada, meaning Friday’s outcomes will determine the tournament’s other first-round bye.
The Lobos will take the No. 2 seed so long as they match or surpass SJSU’s result on Friday (if UNM wins and SJSU ties or loses, if both teams win, if both teams lose, if both teams tie or if UNM ties and SJSU loses). However, San Jose State would take the No. 2 seed with a win and a New Mexico tie or loss, or a tie and a UNM loss.
“(Those were) huge wins, but unfortunately, because we (didn’t) take care of business in some other games, we still have to get a result off San Diego State,” head coach Heather Dyche told the Daily Lobo in a phone interview. “We’re in a unique situation, but I do think we’re pleased with where we are and we feel comfortable playing anybody in the conference.”
Sunday’s win extended UNM’s road success to nine wins and two ties in its last 11 contests away from Albuquerque.
Lobo scoring leader Madisyn Olguin netted two goals against Air Force, registering her fifth and sixth goals of 2015. The forward’s first score happened early in the contest, when she took a rebound off an Air Force save and finished from 15 yards out.
She scored again with 14 minutes left in the game, this time from 10 yards away off a double assist from midfielder/forward Ruth Bruciaga and defender Emily Chavez.
Dyche called Olguin a relentless player.
“She doesn’t stop, and she does everything full-speed,” Dyche said. “She plays like a fifth-year senior; she plays like someone who knows her time is coming to an end and she doesn’t want to waste one second of it. She absolutely carried us today.”
In between Olguin’s two goals, midfielder Maddie Irwin converted her second goal of the season. Following a throw-in, Irwin collected the ball and fired from 10 yards out in the 74th minute. Olguin also chipped in an assist on Irwin’s goal.
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New Mexico controlled the tempo through much of the game. Offensively, UNM attempted 16 shots, including a whopping 11 shots on goal. Olguin herself fired six shots on goal.
“For us, we’re not so worried about the numbers but the quality chances on goal,” Dyche said. “That’s were I felt we were really, really good today. We had two hit off the crossbar. We had one called back, but everything was on frame, and we were following shots and creating really quality chances.”
In fact, the Lobos tried nearly three times as many shots on goal as Air Force had shots for the game. The Falcons finished with four shots, with two shots on goal saved by Lobo goalkeeper Cassie Ulrich.
With her 27th win, Ulrich also moved to within one victory of tying Melissa Liston for second in all-time career wins at UNM.
Air Force goalkeeper Jennifer Hiddink made eight saves against UNM.
On Friday, midfielder Claire Lynch scored the game’s only goal against Colorado College off an assist from midfielder Dylann O’Connor.
J.R. Oppenheim is the managing editor for the Daily Lobo. Contact him at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
