Coming off a tough overtime loss Friday night against San Jose State, the Lobos return to action Sunday afternoon to take on the Bulldogs of Fresno State. The Lobos need to get the win in this match to still have a realistic chance to win the regular season conference championship. They will need to make the most of their chances in this match and find at least one first half goal to put pressure on the Bulldogs. I believe that the Lobos will be able to control the match from the first whistle and shouldn’t have much trouble with the Bulldogs. That being said, you still have to stick to your game plan and bring your best game because you don’t know what the Bulldogs are going to bring. This will be an interesting match to see how it plays out; this will be evident when we look at the season stats for both teams.
Month: October 2015
Women’s Soccer vs. San Jose State Preview
The Lobos and Spartans square off in a key Mountain West conference Friday night at UNM Soccer Complex at 7 PM. This match will have a lot to say about who will end up being the regular season champion, as SJSU is currently tied with SDSU for the conference lead, two points ahead of the Lobos. It will be interesting to see how many Lobo fans will be in attendance with the Lobo Howl at the same time as the match, so hopefully there are plenty of fans in the mood for some soccer. A key factor to watch for in this match will be the weather. Depending on if the wind dies down or not, it could dictate how the teams will play in order to take the wind out of the match. It will be key for the Lobos to be able to put pressure on the Spartans and find an early goal in the match.
A Different Way of Looking at Basketball Team Strength
At last, our long national nightmare is over! Lobo Hoops is back! With tonight being the Lobo Howl, I thought that it would be fun to show some analyses that I’ve been playing around with that provide a slightly different way of measuring team strength and using that to look back at the last couple of Mountain West Conference seasons.
Football Game 7 Preview: Hawaii
After recording two wins against teams that are still winless, the Lobos had their momentum stopped in Reno, losing to the Wolfpack in a disappointing game. They have a great chance of recovering some of that momentum this weekend, though, when a struggling Hawaii team comes to town. And they will need to if they want to still have a shot at a bowl game. It’s the homecoming game this weekend, so here’s to hoping that the team puts on a good performance for the alums.
Men’s Soccer vs. Valparaiso Recap
It was a most eventful night to be at the UNM Soccer Complex for the match featuring the Lobos and the Crusaders, and that was even before the game actually began. The match started 40 plus minutes late, as the west sidelights were unable to turn on. The Crusaders and the Lobos eventually agreed to start the match with just the one bank of lights and it didn’t take long for the Lobos to get on the board, when Sam Gleadle found Chris Wehan in the first minute for a goal that gave the Lobos an early 1-0 lead. The goal was Wehan’s ninth goal of the season and marked only the second match this season in which the Lobos scored in the first half. The rest of the first half didn’t have much excitement, with most of the Crusaders shots coming from way out side the 18 yard box and the only other great chance for the Lobos was when Niko Hansen hit the post in his chance to give the Lobos a 2-0 lead.
Men’s Soccer vs. Valparaiso Preview
After a tough loss on the road against nationally-ranked Old Dominion, the Lobos return to Albuquerque to take on a solid Valparaiso team from the Horizon League. This is a very important match for the Lobos to rebound after a 0-3-0 start to the Conference USA schedule. The Lobos have seemingly lost all of their momentum built during the non-conference slate and must pick up results in almost all their remaining matches to have a good chance of making the NCAA Tournament. While this is a tough task, the Lobos still have talent. They need to come together as a unit and find a way to come out of this match with the victory. They also have to find a way to play better in the first half so they don’t keep on putting pressure on themselves to come from behind in the second half.
Quest for a Bowl Game: Two Steps Forward, One Leap Back
After a couple of momentum-building wins that put the team in a good position to become bowl eligible, the Lobos hit a wall against Nevada, damaging their bowl prospects. This week saw the biggest change in their probability of becoming bowl eligible that we’ve seen this season, so maybe it’s not so surprising that it seems to correspond with how down about the season some fans appear to be. This loss makes next week’s game against Hawaii a must-win scenario if the team wants to have a realistic shot at making a bowl game.
Women’s Soccer Road Trip Recap
It was a successful road trip for the Lobos, as they got a 0-0 draw against Wyoming and a 2-1 win against CSU. The results improved the Lobos to 3-0-1 on the road during conference play and making their conference record 4-1-1 with five matches left to play. This also improved their overall season record to 6-6-1 after starting the season 2-5-0. The Lobos have found their stride and it will be interesting to see how these last five matches play out. The Lobos are in 3rd place right now, two points behind SDSU and SJSU who are both 5-1-0, but the Lobos will play both sides at home during the five matches, so they will certainly have their opportunities to win the conference.
Men’s Soccer at Old Dominion Recap
The start to the Conference USA season has not been what the Lobos were hoping for, finding themselves at 0-3-0 after three matches. Saturday was another example of playing on relatively even terms but struggling to find the net, especially in the first half. The Lobos need to find their stride again or their season could end up just like last season, where they missed the NCAA Tournament with a talented squad. I believe that they will regroup and find a way to make the NCAA Tournament. If they do, they will be a side that other teams won’t want to face.
UNM Football: Lobos Go Bust against Nevada
The Lobo football team, fresh off of consecutive wins, headed up to Nevada in hopes of extending their winning streak against a team that was trying to regroup from an upset loss to an in-state rival. Unfortunately for the Lobos, Nevada was able to regroup, leaving UNM on the losing side of a 35-17 game. This loss puts the Lobos back even at 3-3 and searching for some ways to shore up some of their weaknesses.