New Mexico women’s soccer is set to take on Nevada as conference play continues.
Both the Lobos (5-5-2) and the Wolfpack (4-7-0) are 1-3 in conference play, and looking to climb out from the bottom of the Mountain West.
In the absence of former Nevada coach Missy Price, the Wolfpack has struggled to find form, having already lost seven times this season.
Nevada has since operated under co-head coaches Casey Tate and Erin Otagaki, both of whom were assistant coaches during the 2015 season. It appears the transition has left the Nevada side unstable, only managing to string together four wins this season.
“You watch some of their games and you think, ‘Wow, they’re outstanding,’ and you watch some of their other games and you think, ‘We can beat them,’” said UNM head coach Heather Dyche.
Dyche went on to explain that both sides are capable of excellent performances, but are unable to replicate these performances to generate consistency.
“I don’t feel confident that we’re going to beat anyone and I don’t feel confident that we can’t beat anyone,” Dyche said. “I think for us we have to worry about ourselves and try to hold ourselves to a standard, and if that happens I think positive things will come from it”.
The Mountain West conference is still wide open, with all teams having at least one loss in league play thus far. UNM will be hoping to re-enter the battle for a place in the top six, but will need to take advantage of its opportunities if they hope to beat a Nevada defense which only concedes an average of one goal per game.
However, the Wolfpack has looked short on attacking prowess and leadership, scoring on average only 0.73 goals per game this season.
UNM, with a goal-per-game ratio of 1.5, will need more solid performances from senior midfielder Maddie Irwin and junior midfielder Claire Lynch, who have a combined tally of 11 goals for the season, which comprises almost 65 percent of UNM’s offensive attack in 2016.
Lynch is now fifth on the all-time UNM list of top goal scorers. She currently has 15 career goals for UNM, and is two goals behind Lana Melendres, who played for the Lobos from 1996 to 1999.
UNM is coming off a weekend in California that saw the team win impressively against defending Mountain West tournament champions San José State University (6-3-3), only to fall 3-0 to Fresno State University (6-5-1). The Lobos will be seeking to replicate the kind of performance that saw them get past the Spartans.
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The University of Nevada, since joining the Mountain West conference, has yet to beat the Lobos, who will look to extend their unbeaten run against the Wolfpack.
First touch is Friday at 7:30 p.m MT in Reno, Nevada.
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 @DailyLoboSports.
