Women's soccer: Lobos traveling to Big Ten country this weekend
J.R. Oppenheim | September 11Traditionally, the New Mexico women’s soccer team hasn’t fared well against the Big Ten Conference.
Traditionally, the New Mexico women’s soccer team hasn’t fared well against the Big Ten Conference.
New Mexico’s start to the 2015 campaign has been far from a stroll in the park. The Lobos have had no time to ease into the season, as head coach Jeff Nelson created an opening schedule against some fierce opponents. However, Nelson said his squad’s upcoming trip to Southern California will be unlike the previous two tournaments of the year.
The No. 21 UNM men’s soccer team will travel to California this weekend to take on two more opponents: the Cal State Northridge Matadors, and the Loyola Marymount Lions. This past weekend, the Lobos (1-1-1) played in the Grange & Ashwill Memorial Invitational and became co-champions, along with the University of Denver (3-0-1). The Lobos finished the tournament with a 2-2 draw with then-No. 18 San Diego and a 2-1 win against UC Santa Barbara.
Now it’s time for the real season to begin. A week after New Mexico dismantled Football Championship Subdivision member Mississippi Valley State 66-0, the Lobos will get their first real taste of competition when they host Tulsa on Saturday at University Stadium.
The UNM men’s soccer team got its first win of the season Sunday night after defeating No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 2-1. This win was made possible thanks to redshirt junior midfielder Christopher Wehan’s second brace of the weekend. The first half of the match was even in shots, with six coming from each side. But the Gauchos took a 1-0 lead during the 23rd minute when sophomore forward Ahinga Selemani struck from about 22 yards away.
Head coach Jeff Nelson hit a major milestone in his 21st season coaching collegiate volleyball, garnering win No. 400 in a 3-0 sweep against the Broncos on Friday night. Nelson has made his presence felt throughout his 20-plus years as a head volleyball coach. In his ninth season as head coach for New Mexico, Nelson has put up an impressive 159-89 record during his tenure.
New Mexico’s defense showed no growing pains showcasing its new nickel defense in a 66-0 rout over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night at University Stadium. UNM sent consistent pressure throughout the night in the season opener against MVSU’s dual quarterback system, never allowing any kind of rhythm for the Delta Devils. Head coach Bob Davie said he doesn’t take anything for granted after his team blew out the visiting Delta Devils, but said it was hard to tell how well his defense actually performed.
New Mexico sophomore running back Daryl Chestnut didn’t need much time to show off his skills. In the third quarter Chestnut took his first career handoff up the middle and used his speed to outrace the defense for a 64-yard touchdown.
New Mexico was more than disappointed after a 2-2 draw against San Diego on Friday night at the UNM Soccer Complex.
New Mexico was able to celebrate Jeff Nelson’s 400th career victory in a competitive 3-0 sweep over the Santa Clara Broncos Friday night at the Johnson Center. Although UNM didn’t fall in a single set against the Santa Clara, the Lobos’ first victory at home did not come easily. “They play a really fast offense that’s hard to play against, but our kids handled well,” Nelson said.
New Mexico’s sound defense provided plenty of problems for Idaho State’s offense en route to a 4-1 victory on Thursday afternoon at the UNM Soccer Complex. Following a troubling 4-0 loss against Colorado on August 30, UNM bounced back to blow out the Bengals, playing mainly on ISU’s side of the field.
Back when Bob Davie was an analyst for ESPN, there was one aspect of the job that he disliked: making predictions. Davie, entering his fourth year as head coach for New Mexico, said he wasn’t fond of acting like he knew what was going to happen five months into the college football season. Davie was paid to give his opinion much in the same way that he gives his opinion as a head coach. Well, the time for making predictions is over.
Jeff Nelson continues his path toward 400. After the team dropped its last three sets against Ball State, New Mexico’s head volleyball coach has a chance to seize to his 400th career win in front of a home crowd. Nelson said getting over the 399 hump would have been nice to do against his alma mater, but he will be happy to climb the plateau whenever the time comes.
The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team will play San Diego and UC Santa Barbara for its first two home matches this weekend at the Grange & Ashwill Memorial Invitational. The Lobos are coming off a 0-1 loss on Saturday to No. 1 UCLA. UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said he had mixed feelings about the result because his team did some positive things, but could also have performed better.
At this early stage in the women’s soccer team, head coach Heather Dyche acknowledges that there are some things her team needs to work on. Among them, Dyche said, the Lobos need to clean up their play inside the 18-yard box. Issues inside both UNM’s box defensively and Colorado’s box offensively plagued the Lobos in Sunday’s 4-0 loss at Colorado, she said. “I think they were the better team,” Dyche said at the first coaches’ luncheon of the year on Tuesday at University Stadium. “I’m not trying to say we deserved to win that game, but I think a 4-0 result would suggest it was a 4-0 game, and it wasn’t. We created enough. We had some brilliant opportunities and we didn’t put them away."
Head coach Jeff Nelson’s 400th win will have to wait following New Mexico’s 3-2 loss in the final game of the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge on Saturday. On the national stage, senior middle blocker Simone Henderson had a career night against Nelson’s alma mater during the televised game on ESPN3. Despite her 21 kills on 35 total attempts, the Lobos couldn’t capitalize in the final three sets of the contest.
Goalie: the position that can take you from hero to zero and back again in less than five seconds. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. And sophomore Jason Beaulieu has been doing it 10 years. Beaulieu is the starting goalie for New Mexico. He is in his second season at UNM, but he’s quickly becoming one of the most accomplished goalies in Lobo history. Last season, Beaulieu ended with a 6-4-0 record, which earned him the second most wins ever by a freshman keeper in program history.
A second-half strike handed the Lobos a tough 1-0 loss in their opening match of the regular season against No. 1 UCLA. This is the second year in a row the Lobos have fall to the Bruins.
Many of the former UNM rugby players still have strong ties to the program and serve as coaches and mentors today. On Saturday, some of those former players squared off against the current team in an exhibition game at the annual UNM Lobos RFC alumni match in a 46-31 win for the alumni.
So far, the nonconference schedule for the New Mexico women’s soccer team is proving to be as challenging as advertised. The Lobos gave up four goals -- two in each half -- and failed to score in a shutout loss at Colorado on Sunday. UNM (1-3) opened its season with two losses to No. 1 Florida State and then No. 15 Texas Tech, with road tests at Minnesota and Michigan State still looming.