It’s two lasts for the UNM football team. One: It’s the last road game of the season. Two: Saturday marks the last matchup with BYU while it’s still a Mountain West Conference member.
It was a one-in-a million-type season for the UNM women’s soccer team. For the first time in Lobo history, UNM reached the NCAA tournament, but fell to Notre Dame 3-0 in the first round. “Notre Dame was a tough place to go and play, but we did well,” head coach Kit Vela said.
Defending conference champion? Check. One senior on a freshmen-stocked roster? Check. Dominate at home?
The UNM men’s soccer team received an early Christmas gift. After losing to Cal State Bakersfield in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals, the Lobos season looked all but over. But UNM unexpectedly received one of the last at-large bids to the NCAA tournament on Monday. “It’s crazy,” midfielder Michael Green said.
Another impressive display by another UNM freshman. Guard Kendall Williams shot 4-of-5 from the 3-point range and finished with 15 points to lead UNM (2-0) to a 76-62 victory over Arizona State at The Pit on Tuesday night.
The UNM soccer teams’ seasons are over. Well, technically only the women’s season. The men still have an anorexic-slim chance at making the postseason, after losing 2-0 to Cal State Bakersfield in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament semifinal.
It wasn’t a well-scripted start for the UNM women’s basketball team; it was just nondescript. Outsized and outmatched, UNM shot 26 percent in the first half, and Texas Tech dismantled the Lobos 80-53 at The Pit in their regular-season opener Saturday.
The UNM men’s basketball team might be young, but it’s not defenseless. Propelled by their stingy defense, the Lobos beat Detroit Mercy 63-54, and held the Titans to 30 percent shooting from the field before a raucous crowd of 15,145 on Saturday at The Pit.
It was a landmark match for the UNM volleyball team Saturday. The Lobos blanked Wyoming 3-0 at Johnson Center and continued their seven-game winning streak, which included three straight sweeps.
It’s a brand new cast for a brand new year. After a 30-win season, back-to-back Mountain West Conference regular-season championships and a trip to the NCAA tournament, the UNM men’s basketball team is prepared to defend its title.
It’s been two years too long for swingman Curtis Dennis. The junior from the Bronx, N.Y., has been itching to get on Bob King Court and display his talents for the UNM men’s basketball team. Dennis probably won’t be a starter, but he said knows his responsibility: It’s to be a spark plug off the Lobos’ bench.
The key to the UNM women’s basketball team’s success lies in its freshmen. With juniors Sara Halasz and Nikki Nelson out with season-ending knee injuries and senior Jessica Kielpinski playing with a bum foot, it will be up to the underclassmen to fill in. “I’ve said it quite a bit,” head coach Don Flanagan said.
The UNM men’s basketball team won’t have a big contributor for the first two games of the regular season. Guard Phillip McDonald, who started every game last season, suffered a partially torn ligament in his elbow during the Lobos’ 107-62 exhibition win over Manchester College. Head coach Steve Alford said McDonald will be evaluated after the Lobos’ first two games. “Obviously, Phillip’s injury— there is never a good time,” Alford said.
Patience is for the virtuous. After watching the UNM men’s basketball team play two home exhibitions games at The Pit, it was finally the women’s basketball team’s turn.
The UNM women’s soccer players are history makers. Among the team’s many accomplishments, the Lobos are making their first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament.
With five games left in the UNM volleyball team’s regular season, the clock is ticking for the three seniors who have been instrumental in turning the program into what it is today. Senior captains Taylor Hadfield, Lisa Meeter and Jade Michaelsen are all four-year starters and were among head coach Jeff Nelson’s first recruiting class when he took over in 2007.
If there ever existed a must-win game, this weekend has a full slate of them for the UNM men’s soccer team. The third-seeded Lobos open the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament against UNLV Thursday, a team they beat twice this season — most recently in a 3-2 win in the last regular-season game.
This time wasn’t like last time. After dropping a 3-0 decision to TCU on the road Oct. 8, the UNM volleyball team steamrolled the Horned Frogs 3-0 Friday at Johnson Center. It was UNM’s fifth straight win, moving it into second place in the Mountain West Conference at 16-8 overall and 8-3 in conference, while TCU dropped to 13-12 over and 4-7 in the MWC. “We all got together before the game and decided that we weren’t going to lose this one,” senior setter Jade Michaelsen said.
The lights finally went out during the UNM men’s basketball team’s player introductions, and the Lobos team kept Division III Manchester College in the dark. Coming off the bench, point guard Jamal Fenton directed the Lobos’ offense into high gear.
The UNM football team celebrated like it had won the BCS National Championship. Students leapt over rails, darting onto the field after kicker James Aho’s 38-yard field goal split the uprights as time expired against Wyoming on Saturday at University Stadium.
Solutions by The State News
