New Mexico women’s soccer traveled to Fort Collins desperately needing a win against Colorado State. Fortunately for the Lobos, the team pulled out a win on Sunday to keep its postseason hopes alive.
Anything less than wins in both of their final games would have meant elimination, and the Lobos still need some help to qualify for the conference tournament.
Sixth-place Wyoming would need to drop in the standing, tying or losing their final two games.
The Lobos struck early against the Rams. In the 11th minute, sophomore midfielder Jennifer Muñoz flicked a header to freshman forward Gwen Maly, who directed the ball with her head onto the crossbar and into the goal.
Both sides had several chances, but the Lobos were resilient as they hung onto a 1-0 lead. UNM outshot the Rams 20-16, and registered seven shots on target compared to six from CSU.
The match was UNM junior goalkeeper Taylor Hammack’s seventh shutout of the season, and the team’s eighth overall. Junior defenders Ashley Ballantyne and Emily Chavez once again played the full 90 minutes, not letting the previous loss against Wyoming affect them.
The duo delivered another typical solid performance in the heart of the New Mexico defense.
"It was another good response from an emotional loss by our team," Dyche said in a release. "It was taxing to travel Saturday and I was pleased to get a result today."
Qualifying for the conference tournament is still largely out of the control of the Lobos. Wyoming was sitting at 15 points prior to its match on Sunday, and it picked up an additional point after a 0-0 draw with San Diego State.
If the Cowgirls manage to reach 17 or more points to end the season, the Lobos will officially be eliminated. Therefore, Wyoming must lose its last game and New Mexico must win the last match for the Lobos to have a chance to take over sixth place.
Even if those results occur, the Lobos are behind in the tiebreaker of goal differential. Wyoming has a goal differential of +2 compared to the Lobos’ differential of -2.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Fresno State is still alive for a postseason berth, currently tied at 13 total points with New Mexico. The Lobos will play their final regular season fixture on Friday against San Diego State. The Aztecs are 6-1-3 in conference and 8-6-3 overall. It will likely be a tough test for the Lobos as everything stands on the line for them.
The road match is scheduled to kickoff at 8:00 p.m in San Diego.
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.
