The UNM Cross Country teams went up to Indiana this past Friday to compete in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, coming away with a win for the women and a 9th place finish for the men. This being their first real event of the season, the teams have to be encouraged by their performances.
UNM Football: A Tale of Two Halves
The Lobos were given a scare yesterday against New Mexico State, finding themselves down 15 early in the second half before a furious comeback allowed them to walk away with a 38-29 victory. The Lobos have now won four straight match-ups against the Aggies in the Rio Grande Rivalry, which also means that Coach Davie has never lost a game to the team down south. The win also improves the Lobos to 3-2 on the season, putting them halfway towards bowl eligibility.
Football Game 5 Preview: New Mexico State
After an encouraging weekend up in Wyoming, the Lobos (2-2) head home to face their in-state rivals, New Mexico State University (0-3). Aside from the three year stretch 2009-2011 (hmm… I wonder what was going on with the team then?), the Lobos have been dominating the Rio Grande Rivalry in recent years and look to continue that dominance on Saturday.
Men’s Soccer vs. San Francisco Recap
New Mexico Men’s Soccer came back home after a tough loss in its Conference USA opener against South Carolina to play a non-conference game against University of San Francisco. The Dons (2-9-0) were a team that seemed to promise a great confidence-boosting opportunity and give Coach Fishbein the chance to give important players minutes off the pitch and give bench players a chance to play in a match. That promise was delivered, as the Lobos improved their record to (6-2-1, 0-1-0) with a 3-0 win against the Dons.
Men’s Soccer AT South Carolina Recap
This past weekend, New Mexico Men’s Soccer went to South Carolina to open their Conference USA season and played an even match with a lot of emotional swings for both sides. South Carolina was able to score early, when a cross was sent in to the six-yard box and found the body of Kevin Walker in just the 3rd minute for his third goal of the season. It appeared that the Lobos would find themselves down 2-0 when Walker got free again, but his shot on an open goal found the cross bar and the Lobos were able to clear the ball. The Lobos did have a 6 to 3 shot advantage in the first half, but they, like all year, were unable to find the net in the first half and were down 1-0 after 45 minutes.
Women’s Soccer Weekend Recap
New Mexico Women’s Soccer went on the road this past weekend to start Mountain West play with two matches, one against Utah State and the other against Boise State. Although these matches were played differently, the results were the same, as the Lobos came home with two victories. This was an important start for the Lobos for many reasons. It not only showed that playing against a great schedule readied the team for conference play, it gave them a huge advantage in the conference by winning two road matches on the first weekend of the season.
Quest for a Bowl Game: A Third of Way There
The win on Saturday against Wyoming was not only a good start to the conference season, it kept UNM’s bowl aspirations alive. With a loss, the Lobos would have needed an upset or two to get back to where that goal was within reach and it would have been hard to muster the confidence that such an upset was possible. Luckily, the Lobos played well and came away with the victory, allowing us to keep an eye on their bowl eligibility. With two wins down, they’re a third of the way there, needing to go at least 4-4 over the rest of the season.
UNM Women’s Soccer AT Boise State Preview
New Mexico (3-5-0, 1-0-0) AT Boise State (3-5-3, 1-0-0)
Both the Lobos and Broncos are coming off Conference opening wins on Friday, with the Lobos beating Utah State 1-0 on the road, and the Broncos beating SDSU at home 2-1. This will be an interesting game to see how it plays out the two sides have one common opponent in Idaho State with two very different results, the Lobos won their match against Idaho State 4-1, while the Broncos had a 1-1 draw in their match. It is still early in Mountain West play but if the Lobos can find another great result today against the Broncos it sets them up well for a great conference season.
UNM Runs All Over Wyoming
The Lobos went back to basics today in Laramie, resulting in a 38-28 victory against Wyoming that was probably their most complete game of the season. This win was big for the Lobos, as not only did it keep their bowl chances alive, it started them out 1-0 in conference play and gave them some momentum going into the game next week against NMSU.
UNM Men’s Soccer vs. South Carolina Preview
The New Mexico Men’s Soccer team will start their Conference USA season tonight, when they go on the road to play South Carolina. The Lobos are on a nice streak right now, winning their last five matches against a good slate of opponents. The Lobos are playing great soccer going into C-USA play and will try to make up for last season’s collapse that saw them finish their conference season at 4-4-0. This is a very important game for the Lobos conference title chances because not many teams will get a result at South Carolina, so a win here could give them a little advantage early. Conference USA has nine teams, so each team plays four home and four road matches. Due to the unbalanced schedule, you have to win your home matches and get results on the road if you want to have a good chance of winning the league. For the Lobos, the quest for a league championship starts tonight.