New Mexico’s quest to rise in the Mountain West fell short in a five set heartbreaker against Wyoming on Thursday night in Johnson Center. It was a roller coaster of a night for the Lobos as a whole, as the squad couldn’t find any sort of consistency on the night.
The quality of UNM’s post play is the least of the team’s worries. After New Mexico’s 78-41 rout over Western New Mexico on Wednesday night, the Lobos biggest question mark is who head coach Yvonne Sanchez is going to start. Two of last season’s starters watched the game from the bench. Seniors Khadijah Shumpert and Alexa Chavez were both wearing jeans at the end of the bench, Shumpert with an illness and Chavez rehabbing a foot injury.
New Mexico will rely on both of its main quarterbacks down the stretch. Head coach Bob Davie has decided that both Lamar Jordan and Austin Apodaca will split playing time with just four games remaining on the schedule. The Lobos' next opponent is Utah State, who they play this Saturday at University Stadium.
New Mexico will face a big test this weekend beginning with Wyoming on Thursday night. The race for first appears to be out of reach for the moment, but the runner-up spot is wide open with four teams right in the thick of things. UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Boise State are the four programs sitting above the .500 plateau, all in a position to finish behind the undefeated CSU Rams.
Saying Friday night will be a big one for the UNM men’s soccer team is an understatement. The final game of the season will decide whether or not the team will make the playoffs. UNM (7-5-4, 1-4-2 C-USA) will face Florida Atlantic University at 7 p.m. on Senior Night in hopes of getting a spot in this year’s Conference USA tournament. Only the top seven teams in the conference are admitted, and New Mexico is clinging to a spot, currently sitting in seventh place.
New Mexico kept its season going at the Mountain West women’s soccer tournament Tuesday evening in San Diego, capturing a 2-0 victory over UNLV. Senior Lindsey Guice helped secure the win with the go-ahead goal and an assist on the insurance. The win avenged a loss earlier in the season to UNLV. It also moves No. 3 seed UNM (10-8-1) into the tournament semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday against San Jose State. The winner moves on to Saturday’s championship bout.
Exhibition games tend not to be the prettiest games on earth, but it’s hard to ignore a 96-point effort. The New Mexico offense exploded to nearly 100 points in its first exhibition game Tuesday evening, outgunning Colorado State-Pueblo to a 96-84 victory at WisePies Arena.
Gone are the days of intrasquad play; the Lobos will face their first opponent of the 2015-2016 campaign Wednesday night against Western New Mexico.
New Mexico forward Madisyn Olguin earned a spot on the First Team All-Mountain Mountain West, the conference announced Tuesday. Olguin finished the regular season with six goals, including five in conference play, to lead all Lobo scorers.
In his first two years as head coach, Craig Neal didn’t want to give too much away schematically during the exhibition schedule.
If New Mexico is to take anything away from Saturday’s Cherry vs. Silver scrimmage, it is this: the defense needs to improve. UNM was out warming up early Saturday morning in anticipation of playing a live game against its male practice opponents. However, the men of the Silver team had no trouble moving the ball around against the Lobos’ defense in a 90-57 route over the Cherry squad. “There’s going to be times when you’re not going to be able to put the ball in the basket. That happens to every team,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “But if your defense isn’t there to make up the difference, then you’re going to be in a little bit of trouble.”
The UNM men’s soccer team gained another Conference USA point after battling to a scoreless draw with Florida International on Saturday night. FIU (9-5-1, 3-3-1) had a tight hold on the ball and kept the New Mexico defense on its toes. The Panthers outshot the Lobos 21-5 and led 10-4 in corner kicks. It was also a very physical game, with a total of 30 fouls and five yellow cards distributed. FIU contributed 19 fouls and four yellow cards.
In all likelihood, the Mountain West will only send one representative to the NCAA women’s soccer tournament. That means the Lobos’ season lives or dies by this week’s Mountain West tournament in San Diego. And if they happen to make it, the Lobos will get some measure of revenge along the way against the only three teams they lost to during the conference schedule. UNM (9-8-1, 7-3-1 MW), as the No. 3 seed, takes on sixth-seeded UNLV Tuesday at 5 p.m. Mountain Time in the tournament’s first round. Should the Lobos advance, they’ll play No. 2 San Jose State on Thursday. UNLV defeated UNM 3-1 on Oct. 4, while SJSU claimed a 2-1 overtime win on Oct. 16.
A pack of Lobos crossed the finish line together at the Mountain West Conference Championships on Friday in Reno, Nevada. What appears to be the top women’s cross country team in the country captured the conference title for the eighth year in the row. Head coach Joe Franklin was also named Mountain West Women’s Coach of the Year for the eighth consecutive time.
The New Mexico women's team ended the Lobo Invitational Sunday they same way they began it: with a win. The Lobos won all six singles matches against the University of Texas-El Paso, capping the weekend without a blemish in singles competition at the McKinnon Family Tennis Center. “It’s similar to the format that we would be playing in the spring,” head coach Kelcy McKenna said. “For our three new (team members), it’s just nice to kind of get a taste for what it’s like.”
The New Mexico women’s soccer team showed it can keep pace with the Mountain West’s best team, but San Diego State proved it’s the tournament’s No. 1 seed for a reason. SDSU forward Leah Pruitt broke a 1-all tie as the Aztecs dropped the Lobos Friday night at a rain-soaked UNM Soccer Complex.
New Mexico has a couple different scenarios to lock up a No. 2 seed in next week’s Mountain West women’s soccer tournament.
Streaks were continued while others ended for the New Mexico Cross Country team during the Mountain West Cross Country Championships on Friday. For the women, UNM’s runners extended their dominance in the Mountain West for eight consecutive titles. However for the men, the Lobos six straight conference titles came to a close in Reno, Nevada
With just two games left in the regular season, the UNM men’s soccer team is feeling the pressure more than ever. The Lobos (7-5-3, 1-4-1 C-USA) are yet to earn their spot in this year’s Conference USA Championship. The top seven teams in the conference will be able to compete, and although the Lobos are currently in the seventh spot, that could change very quickly—for better or worse.
Preseason accolades allow for speculation in anticipation for the upcoming season. New Mexico head coach Yvonne Sanchez said her interests lie with how her squad is going to play, not how people think her team is going to perform. Sanchez said she knows teams are going to be gunning for the Lobos this upcoming season after the tremendous finish the team had last year.
Solutions by The State News
