New Mexico women’s soccer entered Friday night 9th in the Mountain West Conference and facing 1st-place Utah State. The Lobos appeared to be set for a tough match, but found a way to vault into the top half of the standings with a win.
New Mexico dominated from the start, and spent the majority of the first 45 minutes attacking in Utah State’s half of the field. The Aggies (9-6-1, 5-2-0 MW) were completely pinned back, and did not register their first shot on target until 10 minutes before the end of the game.
The Lobos (7-6-2, 3-4-0 MW) broke the deadlock in the 14th minute, when junior defender Emily Chavez surged into the midfield and passed the ball to junior forward Claire Lynch. Lynch beat her defender on the turn and blasted the ball into the top left corner of the goal from 25 yards out.
The goal puts Lynch at eight for the season, and raised her UNM career total to 17 goals. It also marked a milestone for Lynch, as she is now tied for fourth in career goals in program history, alongside Lobo alumna Lana Melendres.
“It just feels really good. Besides being number four, we got a really big win tonight,” Lynch said in a release. “We beat the number one team in our conference, and it was just a really big night for us overall.”
The Lobos struck again in the 57th minute. Senior defender Olivia Ferrier’s throw-in made its way to sophomore midfielder Jennifer Muñoz. Muñoz, who had time inside the penalty area, bent the ball with the outside of her right foot, finding the far corner of the goal.
The goal was Muñoz’s second of the season, which was also Ferrier’s second assist of the season. The 2-0 victory put the Lobos right back in the mix to earn a spot in the conference championship.
“The first part of conference didn’t go the way we wanted. But because everybody has been beating everybody, we’re still in it,” head coach Heather Dyche said in a release. “I think we’re really coming into our own right now, and we’re in a position where we can hopefully keep going like that.”
The Lobos will host Boise State (5-9-2, 4-2-1 MW) in its next match on Sunday. New Mexico can gain more ground in the conference standings against the Broncos, who are in fifth place — just four points ahead of the Lobos.
A win for UNM could get the team within four points of UNLV, who are currently at the top of the Mountain West Conference standings.
The Broncos started their season with a record of 1-7-1, but found their form once conference play began, having only conceded six goals in MW play thus far. Boise State is coming off a 2-0 defeat to San Diego State Friday night.
Kickoff is at noon on Sunday in Albuquerque.
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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.
