After a game against Houston Baptist, where they played well defensively but had some struggles offensively in their 65-57 win, the Lobos look to get their offense going against instate rival NMSU. After playing just NMSU once last year, the Lobos and Aggies return to playing twice against each other this season. The Aggies won the lone meeting last year in Las Cruces 70-59, in a game where Sasha Weber scored 23 points for the Aggies. It will be important for the Lobos to get their offense going in the first quarter and keep the starters out of foul trouble. If the Lobos are able to control the pace of play and control the impact of Weber, the Lobos will have a decent chance to win this game.
Author: Zach
Women’s Basketball: Houston Baptist Game Preview
The basketball season tips off for the Lobo Women’s Basketball Program tonight in the second game of a Lobo doubleheader. After dominating two instate DII schools in exhibition games, the Lobos open the season against Southland Conference’s Houston Baptist. The Lobos are coming off a season where they went 21-13 and Houston Baptist finished their season 15-18. This should be a good first test for the Lobos as they get their legs under them this season. The Lobos non-conference schedule isn’t as tough as last year’s, but that doesn’t mean they’re playing terrible teams.
Lobo Women’s Basketball Season Preview
The Lobo Women’s Basketball Program looks to build off of last year’s very encouraging season that saw the Lobos finish the season 21-13 overall and 14-4 in Mountain West Play. The Lobos ended up making the Mountain West Tournament Final and making the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational. With such a great turnaround, Coach Sanchez was awarded a contract extension as she tries to get the program back to where it was in the early 2000’s. This program is on the rise with a talented roster and recruiting keeps on getting better, I am excited for this season and do think this team has good shot to win the Mountain West.
Men’s Soccer vs. South Carolina Recap (CUSA Tourney)
The Lobos played a good match against South Carolina, but were unable to find the net on their dangerous chances. That ultimately gave South Carolina a chance to stay in the match and they found the game-winning goal late in the second half, likely ending the Lobos’ season in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament. The season didn’t go as many Lobo fans had hoped, but there is hope for the future and the youth on this year’s team will get better with more experience. The South Carolina game summed up the Lobos’ season very well, as they were unable to score in the first half, unable to find ways to score from more than one person, and unable to prevent giving up late goals off of broken plays. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Men’s Soccer program, so this feels more like a temporary misstep than the start of a downward trend. This is still a very good college soccer team and program.
CUSA Conference Tourney First Round: UNM vs. South Carolina
After a strong finish in their last couple of games, the Lobos enter the seven-team Conference USA Tournament as the #6 seed. This tournament will take place Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, when the Championship Match will determine who will get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The field is a very solid one, as it has the potential for five or six of its teams to make the NCAA Tournament this year. With Charlotte being the host, they will be considered one of the two favorites along with #1 Seed Kentucky.
Men’s Basketball: Rogers State Game Thoughts
The Lobos played their last exhibition game of the season Friday night against Rogers State, and while it is hard to get a feel of rotations and how improved players are over last year, here are some of my observations from the Rogers State game.
Men’s Soccer vs. FAU Match Recap
The Lobos needed a win on Senior Night this past Friday to lock up a spot in the Conference USA Tournament and they found it with a convincing 3-0 win. It looked a little dicey there for the first 70 minutes of the match, as the Lobos hadn’t found a goal, but the Lobos controlled the match from start to finish. Although they were held scoreless for a while, they did find the post two times and had a few other dangerous chances, which made it seem as though a goal was inevitable.
Men’s Soccer vs. FAU Preview
Friday Night is Senior Night and the final home match of the 2015 Lobo Men’s Soccer season. This also has ended up being a match that will decide whether or not the Lobos will make the Conference USA Tournament. It is real simple for the Lobos: win and you’re in, so their fate is completely in their hands. FAU right now is in last place in the conference, but they have plenty to play for, as if they win they also have a shot to make the tournament. I believe that we will see the good Lobos side tonight, which should equate to a comfortable win. The Lobos must start of this match with energy and find a first half goal to set the tone for the game, something they’ve only done in two matches this season.
Women’s Soccer: MW Tournament Update and SJSU Match Preview
A 2-0 win for the #3 seed Lobos over the #6 seed UNLV sets up Thursday’s semifinal match against #2 seed SJSU. On the other side of the bracket, #5 seed Colorado College won a 1-0 match against #4 seed Wyoming to set up the other semifinal against host and #1 seed SDSU. The semifinals will take place Thursday evening with the UNM vs. SJSU as the first match followed by Colorado College vs. SDSU. Lobos suffered a 2-1 home loss against SJSU in the regular season, which ultimately ended up being the difference between the two teams in the standings.
Men’s Basketball vs. CSU Pueblo Game Thoughts
Lobo Men’s Basketball kicked off their season with an exhibition against CSU-Pueblo in a game the Lobos ended up winning 96-84. Exhibitions are always hard to really take anything out of for a few reasons such as different rotations, no scouting, and different styles of play. I won’t focus too much on the actual game, but instead focus on some observations that I picked up on during the game.