Media members aren’t predicting a down year for the New Mexico men’s basketball team.Mountain West Conference officials released the men’s basketball MW Preseason Media Poll Tuesday afternoon, where the Lobos found themselves sitting in third place.
ast year New Mexico couldn’t win tight games down the stretch, and head coach Yvonne Sanchez said doing so will be a stepping stone for the 2014 women’s basketball season. UNM has lost its last seven games that have been decided by six points or fewer. Sanchez said that was partly due to the immaturity of the team last year, but she expects the squad to learn from those mistakes.“A lot of those close games we just weren’t tough enough to finish. We were just too young,” said Sanchez, whose team opened practice last week. “I’ve learned a lot from that, and it starts with me.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback Lamar Jordan tried to reignite New Mexico’s offense when he scrambled to his right and found sophomore halfback Dameon Gamblin downfield for a 20-yard gain and a new set of downs. Down 24-14 in the fourth quarter, it finally looked like the Lobos had some life with fewer than nine minutes to play.One problem: A holding penalty was called on the play, so instead of a 1st down, UNM faced 2nd and 22 from its 8-yard line.It was that kind of night. UNM’s offense couldn’t get anything going; the Lobos gained just 263 total yards of offense in a 24-14 loss to San Diego State at University Stadium on Friday night.
VolleyballThe New Mexico volleyball team lost its first two Mountain West matches of the season this weekend at San Diego State and UNLV.On Friday, the Aztecs beat the Lobos 3-2 (25-17, 15-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-8).Outside hitter Chantale Riddle led the team with 17 kills and a .205 hitting percentage.
llowing big plays on the ground plagued New Mexico’s defense in the 24-14 loss to San Diego State on Friday night. Each SDSU touchdown came off of a run of 25 yards or more. Head coach Bob Davie said allowing the big runs are exhausting to his team.“It really takes the wind out of everybody’s sails,” Davie said. “It takes you to your knees, giving up big plays like that. It really does.”
Patience proved to be key for the 12th-ranked New Mexico men’s soccer team as it defeated the Missouri State Bears 2-0 in its last nonconference game Sunday night. This was the fourth straight win for the Lobos, who also won last week’s road game 2-0 against Florida Atlantic University.“We talked about the importance of this (four-game stretch), and we took care of business and won all four,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “I think that’s the mark of a quality team.”
New Mexico hasn’t always been able to roll with the punches, but in UNM’s 21-9 win over UTSA last Saturday, the team was able to bounce back from a 9-0 deficit to earn its second road win of the season.
It’s benchmark time for the New Mexico men’s soccer team.With just seven games left in the regular season, head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the New Mexico men’s soccer team has the chance to prove its worth.
Head coach Jeff Nelson has been shifting around his lineup all year in hopes to send a message to the UNM volleyball team to play better.Before conference play, Cassie House had a low .100 hitting percentage that Nelson said was uncharacteristic of the second-year outside hitter.
Apparently Bob Davie is a big believer in momentum.The head coach said New Mexico’s 21-9 win over UTSA was one of the biggest wins for the program since he took over.
The UNM men’s soccer team went to extremes for its 2-0 win against Florida International University on Saturday night. The 15th-ranked Lobos (7-2-1, 1-1-0) got on the scoreboard just 43 seconds into the match, and finished the night with a goal at only 41 seconds remaining.Sophomore forward Niko Hansen put the Lobos in the early lead after receiving a long through ball from redshirt sophomore defender Chris Gurule. This was the second straight match in which UNM has gotten off to a quick start, with the Lobos’ Wednesday-night lead coming only 16 seconds into the game.
The New Mexico volleyball team’s new rotation prevailed in a 3-0 sweep over Boise State, leaving the Lobos undefeated in Mountain West play. Head coach Jeff Nelson made changes to his squad’s rotation, handing the libero duties over to sophomore Maddie Mayfield. Nelson said redshirt freshman Ashley Kelsey’s difficult time on the court warranted the switch.“I don’t know if it’s permanent, but we felt like we needed something different,” Nelson said. “Ashley Kelsey had struggled the past couple of matches and we felt like we needed to spin the wheels.”
Bob Davie didn’t mince words when speaking to his team at halftime, which was down 3-0 to the University of Texas San Antonio. “I said, ‘Let’s stop all this (talk of adjustments),’” the head coach said. “I said, ‘let’s look each kid in the eye and ask, “Do you really believe you can win this game?’“We challenged them. We said ‘Enough. Enough. We are either going to step up and win this game, or we are going to be what we are and we are never going to turn this program around.’”
A lot of new faces stepped onto the Rudy Davalos Center court on Friday afternoon. Nine, to be exact.“I’m real excited. Fired up to start,” second-year UNM head coach Craig Neal said. “I’m going to miss the guys that graduated for sure. We’ve got a good group of guys here — a lot of talent, on paper, but they have to show that on the floor.”
It didn’t take long for the New Mexico men’s soccer team to fix its scoring issues. Just 16 seconds into UNM’s non-conference match against West Virginia, a red card was issued to the Mountaineers, allowing midfielder Ben McKendry to take a penalty kick that gave the Lobos an early 1-0 lead.That was just the beginning of UNM’s scoring barrage in a 6-1 win over WVU Wednesday night at the UNM Soccer Complex.
There’s no question that New Mexico’s biggest strength is its triple option offense. For the University of Texas at San Antonio, stopping the run has been its forte the past couple of seasons. Both teams will find out who has the edge when UTSA hosts UNM Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.Last year the Roadrunners had the advantage at the line of scrimmage, holding the Lobos to 193 rushing yards on 42 attempts in a 21-13 win at University Stadium. Most of UNM’s yards came from starting quarterback Cole Gautsche, who had 118 yards .
Despite a sluggish start, late game heroics sparked the New Mexico volleyball team to a 3-2 thriller over Utah State. After winning the first set against the Aggies, UNM’s offensive play vanished. Lobo head coach Jeff Nelson said he was proud of his club’s poise late in the game when the team finally found some rhythm offensively.“We were really grinding that whole match,” Nelson said. “It wasn’t our best match, but when we did things well, they were good enough to win.”
Up-tempo, no-huddle offenses have become the norm in college football. New Mexico knows that as well as any other team after facing three straight teams (Arizona State, New Mexico State and Fresno State) who utilize up-tempo offenses to their advantage.
Goals are hard enough to come by in soccer; multiple goals in a single game are even harder. Last week, UNM sophomore midfielder Ruth Bruciaga netted three goals against in-state rival New Mexico State.
Unlike the majority of childhood dreams, Ben Spencer Jr. never had to wake up from his. From a young age, Spencer, an Albuquerque native, said all he wanted to do was play professional soccer.
Solutions by The State News
