New Mexico kept its season going at the Mountain West women’s soccer tournament Tuesday evening in San Diego, capturing a 2-0 victory over UNLV. Senior Lindsey Guice helped secure the win with the go-ahead goal and an assist on the insurance.
The win avenged a loss earlier in the season to UNLV. It also moves No. 3 seed UNM (10-8-1) into the tournament semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday against San Jose State. The winner moves on to Saturday’s championship bout.
In a postgame interview posted on the conference website, Lobo head coach Heather Dyche she wasn’t pleased with her team’s first-half performance, primarily in the passing and speed of play. That was resolved in the latter 45 minutes, she said.
“Because of that, I think we got a little bit afraid to lose instead of playing our style,” she said. “Credit that to UNLV. They were outstanding tonight and really had a good game. At halftime we tried to adjust that and be a little more dynamic in our movement. I thought we did that in our second half.”
Inclement weather postponed Tuesday's other first-round game between Colorado College and Wyoming to Wednesday morning. The winner of that game will play San Diego State in the semifinals.
Guice, a senior midfielder/forward, grabbed her fourth goal this season at the 53-minute mark off a crossing pass by midfielder Alyssa Coonrod from the left side. Guice connected from 7 yards out.
Guice and defender Emily Chavez teamed up to assist on midfielder Claire Lynch’s goal at the 70:14 mark. Chavez took a free kick toward the ball. Guice got her head on the ball to Lynch, who finished the chance.
“You can see the seniors when they’re playing out here because if you lose, it’s your last game. You can see that part in them,” Dyche said. “I thought Lindsey was outstanding tonight. She’s just so talented, but it was good to see her get a goal and an assist, not really an assist but a second assist. I thought she was really, really good tonight.”
In the shutout win – her sixth of the season – goalkeeper Cassie Ulrich saved five UNLV shots on goal. It moved her into a tie for career wins (28) alongside Kristen Winters. The Rebels did outshoot UNM but only by a slim 14-13 margin.
The Lobos will now look to exorcize some demons playing against No. 2 seeds at the conference tournament. UNM holds a 1-4 record, including dropping the last four straight, against such teams in MW tourney play.
Like UNLV, San Jose State also captured a regular-season win over UNM earlier in the year. The Spartans dropped the Lobos in a 2-1 overtime decision on Oct. 16.
Since that game, SJSU has gone 2-2 with wins over Nevada and Fresno State to close out the season. In fact, the Fresno State win coupled with UNM’s regular season-ending loss to San Diego State pushed the Spartans past the Lobos for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.
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SJSU’s losses down the stretch came against SDSU, the eventual No. 1 seed, and UNLV.
The Spartans (10-7-2) boast two potent scorers in forward Dorthe Hoppius and Darriell Franklin, who have eight goals apiece. SJSU has 28 goals as a team and have given up 20.
“We have to play our best,” Dyche said. “I think San Jose State’s been class all year. They’ve kind of run through the conference and I think they’re very well coached and very well organized. I think for us to beat them we have to be our absolute best.”
J.R. Oppenheim is the managing editor for the Daily Lobo. Contact him at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
