In their last two home fixtures, the Lobos won 2-0 against Utah State and tied 0-0 in a contentious affair against Boise State. But the Lobos are currently seventh in the Mountain West Conference standings, and only the top six progress to the conference tournament.
However, the Lobos (7-6-3, 3-4-1 MW) are only two points behind sixth-place Wyoming, against whom New Mexico will do battle on Friday night in a game that has a lot at stake for both sides.
A win would boost the Lobos to 13 total points and flip-flop the standings.
Conversely, a win for the Cowgirls would send them to 15 conference points and deal a heavy blow to UNM’s hopes of qualifying for the conference tournament.
The Lobos have been impressive in their last two matches, and it was the first time in three weeks that they did not have a split at the weekend. New Mexico head coach Heather Dyche hopes that her team can repeat the intensity of the last two performances.
The Lobos have struggled throughout the season to find their form, often displaying sporadic play. Dyche said she thinks the last two performances may be a sign that the Lobos are peaking at the right time of the year.
“I think the light has been flickering all year,” Dyche said in a release. “There have been some really good moments and some moments where you’re disappointed, but for the entire year I think that we have been dedicated to improving and to getting better every game.”
The Cowgirls (8-7-1, 4-4-0 MW) have won four of their last five games, and are coming off of a 2-1 win against Fresno State. In Wyoming’s last four games, it has scored 11 goals, whereas the Lobos have only managed five. Wyoming has several capable goal scorers, with five of their players having three or more goals so far this season.
Recently, the Lobos’ defensive form has improved significantly. The Lobos have only conceded two goals in their last four games, which can be attributed to the maturing partnership of junior defenders Emily Chavez and Ashley Ballantyne at central defense.
In addition, for the second time this season, UNM goalkeeper Tayler Hammack has managed to keep three clean sheets in her last four games.
“It’s going to come down to these last three games. We could quite possibly finish as high as third, and we could finish out of it depending on how games go,” Dyche said in Tuesday’s press conference. “Wyoming is a huge game for us.”
Wyoming and New Mexico both have three remaining games in conference play, and will alternate to face the same opponents to end the season.
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The fixture against Wyoming is both senior night as well as UNM’s last scheduled home game of the season. The Lobos will then play away at San Diego State and Colorado State.
Kickoff against Wyoming is on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the UNM soccer complex.
Matthieu Cartron is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s soccer. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cartron_matt.
