Following New Mexico’s season opening loss to No. 19 Texas Tech on the road, the women’s soccer team is headed to the west coast to take on yet another ranked opponent, the California Golden Bears.
The Lobos (0-1-0) are scheduled to start the season away from home, playing its first seven matches away from the UNM Soccer Complex.
The Lobos and Red Raiders were evenly matched through the first 58 minutes of the game before Texas Tech scored two unanswered goals. Shortly after, the Lobos' own Maddie Irwin scored her first, and so far only, goal of the season, cutting the lead to 2-1. The Lobos battled hard, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
Since then, the Red Raiders have moved up in the national rankings to No. 16.
Playing two ranked opponents in as many games has proven to be a major test for UNM at the start of the 2016 campaign. No. 21 Cal (1-1-0) defeated Cal Poly 1-0 on Friday at home, followed by a 1-0 loss on the road against No. 13 Santa Clara.
Following Friday night’s match, the Lobos will remain on the coast to play Pacific on Sunday. The Tigers lost their season opener at home to Cal Poly 2-0, last Sunday.
Opposing players to watch out for:
The University of California has a young talent in forward Ifeoma Onumonu. The Bears freshman scored their only goal of the season in their 1-0 victory against Cal Poly. She also has racked up some of the highest on-field minutes of her squad in the early stages of the season.
A pair of players to watch out for with Pacific is Taylor Aryers, who lead the team in scoring in 2014 and is back for her junior year, along with Alex Hussar, who was an All-WCC Honorable Mention during her junior year.
The Lobos kick off their first match of their two-game road trip on Friday at 3 p.m.
Nate Taglialegami is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @NateTag21.
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