New Mexico and San Jose State are both trying to position themselves to knock off three-time Mountain West women’s soccer champ San Diego State. After this Friday's game, one of them could have an inside track against the Aztecs.
The third-place Lobos host the Spartans, who are tied with San Diego State atop the standings, in a potentially pivotal contest Friday night at the UNM Soccer Complex. Only two points in the standings separate UNM (6-6-1, 4-1-1 MW) from the two co-leaders at the conference’s midway point.
Friday’s contest begins at 7 p.m. In addition to the Spartans (7-5-2, 5-1-0 MW), the Lobos will play fifth-place Fresno State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs are 4-8-1 on the season, 3-2-1 in MW play.
Considering where the teams stand at this point, Lobo midfielder/defender Maddie Irwin called it an important weekend.
“We've already played six games of conference and we still have our toughest opponents up,” she said Wednesday. “This game, getting both wins -- Fresno State is coming out of nowhere on Sunday, so getting both wins would be really big for us and it will set us up well for the rest of the conference.”
UNM grabbed a crucial four points last weekend with a tie at Wyoming and a victory over Colorado State, allowing the Lobos to keep pace with SDSU and SJSU.
The Aztecs have developed into a perennial power over the last few years, winning both the conference regular season and tournament titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In addition to their five MW wins, SDSU has more overall wins than any other conference team with nine.
The Spartans, meanwhile, have put themselves in the discussion. They are one of only three teams with seven wins overall – Utah State and UNLV being the others.
“They're tied for first right now, so we have high expectations for them,” midfielder/forward Lindsey Guice said, referring to SJSU. “I also have high expectations for ourselves, so I think we can pull it out.”
With 21 goals on the season, San Jose State ranks second among the conference teams in scoring. Only San Diego State has more with 28 goals.
Three different Spartans have at least three goals this season: forward Darlene Rodriguez with three, forward Dorthe Hoppius with five and forward Darriell Franklin with six (tied for third in the conference). Four of Franklin’s goals sealed victories for the SJSU.
“They just look like a team that enjoys playing,” UNM head coach Heather Dyche said. “They play with a lot of passion and they have a clear sense and a clear role to what they're doing. Any time you play a team like that who's on a roll, we're going to have to disrupt it."
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Only forward Madisyn Olguin has more than two goals for UNM with three, but Guice, forward Quincy Slora, midfielder Claire Lynch and midfielder/forward Ruth Bruciaga have scored two apiece. As a team UNM has 16 goals.
UNM’s wins have come mostly from solid defensive efforts. Only against UNLV did the Lobos surrender more than one goal since conference play began. They are tied for third in the conference in goals allowed (12) and are fourth in goals-against average (1.20)
“We have yet to play our best soccer, so that is very exciting in terms of that we're already halfway through and we are sitting (third) and we haven't even played our best,” Irwin said. “I'm feeling really good about this weekend and our next few weeks.”
J.R. Oppenheim is the managing editor for the Daily Lobo. Contact him at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
