UNM forward Lindsey Guice kept New Mexico's Mountain West women's soccer tournament championship hopes alive, but a change at goalkeeper gave San Jose State an advantage in a shootout.
The Lobos fell out of the tournament in heartbreaking fashion Thursday night in San Diego, losing the PK battle by three scores to two. It propelled the Spartans to the championship game against either San Diego State or Colorado College, who played later Thursday.
UNM ends the first year in the Heather Dyche era with a 10-9-1 record. The Lobos reached the conference tourney semis after a 2-0 win over UNLV on Tuesday, overcoming a regular-season loss to UNLV at the Mountain West women's soccer tournament. The Lobos couldn't do the same against San Jose State.
San Jose State coach Lauren Hansen, tabbed conference coach of the year earlier this week, made a critical substitution in the final two minutes in overtime. She replaced her regular starting goalkeeper, senior Zoe Makrigiannis, for freshman Paige Simoneau.
It payed off for the Spartans. Simoneau stopped the last three UNM penalty kicks in the shootout attempted by midfielders Dylann O'Connor, Maddie Irwin and Claire Lynch. The Lobos had built a 2-1 advantage in PKs with successful scores from forward Madisyn Olguin and defender Brooke Webster.
SJSU's successful penalty kicks came from midfielder Yvette Cuellar, midfielder Carley McBeath and forward Dariell Franklin, who fired the game-winner. UNM goalkeeper Cassie Ulrich saved one SJSU PK, with another sailing wide.
Guice, a senior forward, scored in the final minute of regulation and force overtime with San Jose State (11-7-2). She has a goal in UNM's last four conference tournament games dating back to last year. Her equalizer was needed because SJSU struck first late in the first half.
UNM goalkeeper Cassie Ulrich sent the ball downfield on a goal kick but a San Jose State’s Dorthe Hoppius got a head on the ball in the midfield toward Maricruz Chapa. The Spartan midfielder collected the ball on the run for a one-on-one opportunity against Ulrich, which Chapa won with an eight-yard chip shot into the net.
The Lobos had made three substitutions on the goal kick just before the defensive lapse, including two on the back end.
The Spartan defense kept the Lobo offense in check for much of the game. UNM had only three shots through the first half, and SJSU held UNM without a shot of any kind for nearly 50 minutes.
However, Guice finally broke through in the final minute. Ulrich dumped the ball out of the defensive end and after it bounced a bit, Dylann O'Connor gained control on the far side and crossed it toward Guice. She took the ball off a bounce and took advantage of a fallen SJSU goalkeeper to tie the game from point blank range.
Guice's equalizer came seconds after she missed one over the cross bar. The goal was also the only the third shot on goal UNM attempted to that point.
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The Lobos came out of the first overtime session firing, taking all three shots by either team through the first 10 minutes. Guice again had an opportunity to get the-go-ahead score in the second overtime, but her shot was sent straight into Makrigiannis.
For the game, San Jose State outshot UNM by a 19-9 margin, with Ulrich making nine saves. Makrigiannis stopped UNM's only two other shots on goal. Guice tried five shots, while Hoppius fired six, three coming on goal.
J.R. Oppenheim is the managing editor for the Daily Lobo. Contact him at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
