A contentious match between New Mexico and Boise State’s women’s soccer teams ended in a 0-0 tie after double overtime on Sunday night.
Neither team dominated, but the Lobos saw more opportunities than the Broncos, outshooting them 22-1. Despite the high number of shots, neither side was able to convert their chances, largely because of the well-organized and disciplined defense on both ends of the field.
The match marked the second clean sheet in a row for the Lobos, whose center back pairing of junior defenders Emily Chavez and Ashley Chavez played intensely over the weekend.
Both players played the full 110 minutes against Boise State, recording a shutout for the second time in as many games.
“It’s a huge testament to Emily and Ashley playing center back, and I thought that (Olivia Ferrier) was unreal. I think that it’s cool that you don’t know who is going to step up,” head coach Heather Dyche said in a release.
Senior midfielder Maddie Irwin had the most shots for the Lobos, registering seven shots, four of which were on goal. Irwin came close to scoring on two occasions, most notably in the 78th minute when she fired a shot wide off of an angled pass from freshman forward Gwen Maly.
In the latter stages of the game, both sides came close to grabbing all three points that are awarded for a win.
In the 90th minute, a Lobo corner was swung into the box and was not dealt with by the Bronco defense. After desperate scrambling by both teams, the ball eventually found its way to freshman midfielder Jessie Hix, whose shot to the left side of the goal was saved by Boise junior goalkeeper Janelle Flores.
Boise’s best opportunity came in the first overtime period. Freshman forward Sherle Raimee received the ball in UNM’s half of the field and, realizing that she was all alone, sprinted to the left side of the Lobo defense.
She then flew past the defenders, blasting a left-footed shot, but it ricocheted off of the crossbar.
The game was much more physical for the Lobos compared to Friday night’s game against Utah State. But despite the aggressive play demonstrated throughout the game, only three yellow cards were handed out — two to the Broncos and one to the Lobos.
New Mexico midfielder Hix was in the thick of the physical battle, flying into tackles as well as drawing fouls on numerous occasions.
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“As the number six that’s my job,” Hix said in a release. “It was a physical game, a good game, and one that we should’ve won. You always want to win, but this result is actually pretty big for us.”
New Mexico will play its final home game on Friday against Wyoming (8-7-1, 4-4-0 MW) which is sixth in the conference standings — just one spot above the Lobos.
“It’s huge for us, and it’s also senior night,” said Dyche in the release. “We have an incredible group of seniors on this team, so that game is going to be an emotional one for a lot of different reasons.”
Matthieu Cartron is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s soccer. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cartron_matt.
