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.
High expectations resulted in a sigh of relief rather than celebration at the William H. Tucker golf tournament. UNM head coach Glen Millican said in a release that the pressure to win the event for the third straight year at the UNM Championship Golf Course issued more of a relaxing response than a rewarding one. Gavin Green and the New Mexico men’s golf team can breathe easy after both took home first place trophies for the third consecutive year.
One point of emphasis for Bob Davie during his time at New Mexico has been his team’s maturity, or lack thereof. Time and again the head coach has talked about the Lobos not being mature enough to execute for a full four quarters against quality teams.This was the case once again on Friday night as UNM dropped a 10-point first-half lead in a 35-24 loss to Fresno State at University Stadium. The game was both teams’ Mountain West opener.
For the second time in three games, New Mexico’s sloppy second-half play squandered an opportunity for victory. Despite leading at halftime, the Lobos (1-3) couldn’t overcome a second-half meltdown that led to a 35-24 loss against Fresno State. Head coach Bob Davie said the game reminded him of the 58-23 loss to Arizona State in which UNM kept the game close until falling apart in the second half.“The stage was set,” Davie said. “We’re not good enough yet to go perform against a team like that for the entire game, and then go win the game.”
UNM dropped its Conference USA opener 2-0 at Charlotte on Friday.
New Mexico can block with the best of them, but the volleyball team’s offense is something head coach Jeff Nelson said is a work in progress. Each week, Nelson said his squad has improved with its hitting percentage and the ability to dig balls off the ground to keep play alive.
The No. 5 New Mexico men’s soccer team will open their conference season tonight with perhaps their biggest competition in Conference USA: the No. 21 Charlotte 49ers.
No, Bob Davie hasn’t forgotten about last year’s 69-28 beatdown at Fresno State.
Due to the ongoing construction on Avenida Cesar Chavez Avenue, UNM fans attending Friday night’s football game against Fresno State are advised to take different routes to University Stadium.UNM’s T Lot, located on University and Lomas Boulevards, will be used for shuttle transportation, according to a release from the Athletics Department.
In the final game of the SMU Invite, New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said immaturity played a factor in the team’s only loss of the tournament.
Confidence isn’t something Lamar Jordan lacks. The freshmen quarterback proved that by engineering the first game-winning drive of his career against in-state rival New Mexico State in Las Cruces.
New Mexico defeated in-state rival New Mexico State in a wild and unconventional game that featured four different passers. In the first half, UNM head coach Bob Davie added a little trickery to UNM’s normal run-heavy offense that included a 27-yard fake field goal run and an 18-yard halfback toss, both resulting in touchdowns.Two separate players threw touchdown passes. However, the first two quarterbacks of the game did not assist in the touchdowns. Davie said the assurance to run the offense successfully allowed him to put some tweaks in his team’s play call.
New Mexico sophomore midfielder Ruth Bruciaga led the Lobos to a 4-1 victory over in-state rivals New Mexico State on Friday night at the Lobo Soccer Complex.Bruciaga gave UNM a 1-0 edge in the 26th minute when she tapped the ball in after NMSU’s goalie saved an initial shot. UNM had 17 shots in the first half while NMSU had 9.Carrying the one-goal lead into the second half, the Lobos wasted no time as Bruciaga scored her second goal in the 48th minute off a well-played ball from junior midfielder Dylann O’Connor in the box.
The New Mexico men’s soccer team finished its last weekend before conference play with one win and one draw at home in the TLC Plumbing and Utility Invitational. On Friday, the Lobos’ match against the Drexel Dragons ended in a 1-1 draw.
Solutions by The State News
