The Lobos (5-5-2, 1-3-0) continue their road trip this weekend with a two-match swing against the two Nevada teams. First up for the Lobos is a Friday night date with the Nevada Wolf Pack (4-7-0, 1-3-0) in Reno. The Lobos need to win this match, as a loss could put the Lobos in a very tough spot for the conference tournament. The Lobos should be able to win this match, but the Wolf Pack will test the Lobos offense by packing the backline. If the Lobos are able to get an early goal, it could leave the Wolf Pack scrambling and could make this end up being a 3-0 win. The pressure will be on the Lobos until they score a goal, but then all the pressure will be put on the Wolf Pack. It will be important for Claire Lynch and Maddie Irwin to find a goal in the first 55 minutes of the match, or this match could get dicey for the Lobos.
Nevada Stats:
| Nevada | Opponents | |
| Goals | 8 (4 1st Half, 4 2nd Half) | 12 (7 1st Half, 5 2nd Half) |
| Goals Per Game | .73 | 1.09 |
| Shots On Goal | 54-112 (.482) | 68-148 (.459) |
| Shots Per Game | 10.2 | 13.5 |
| Assists | 2 | 9 |
| Corner Kicks | 38 | 40 |
- Kelsey Quintos has played every minute in goal this season for the Wolf Pack and has played well, with a 1.07 Goals Against Average and a shutout in all four of the Wolf Pack wins.
- The Wolf Pack have had a difficult time scoring this season, with only 8 goals this season and two of those coming on penalty kicks. The Wolf Pack do have two players that have scored two goals this season in Angel Meriwether and Rylee Peterson.
- As mentioned earlier, I expect the Wolf Pack to pack it in, to try and get a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 win off a counter attack. They definitely don’t want this to become a shootout.
Lobo Stats:
| New Mexico | Opponents | |
| Goals | 18 (4 1st Half, 14 2nd Half) | 16 (8 1st Half, 8 2nd Half) |
| Goals Per Game | 1.5 | 1.33 |
| Shots On Goal | 88-185 (.476) | 72-141 (.511) |
| Shots Per Game | 15.4 | 11.8 |
| Assists | 9 | 8 |
| Corner Kicks | 59 | 40 |
- The Lobos need a great weekend to get back into the middle of the conference. If they get two wins or a win against Nevada and a tie against UNLV, they have a chance to climb back into the top tier of the conference.
- The Lobos need a third goal scorer to step up and take a load off of Maddie Irwin (5 goals) and Claire Lynch (6 goals). If they are able to find a third scorer, the attack becomes a lot harder to stop. Could we see a change in goal this weekend? Tayler Hammack has been great at times and has never been bad, but I wonder if we could see Emily Johnson get a start or two this weekend to build some experience.
Mountain West Standings
| Team | Conference Record | Conference Points | Overall Record |
| UNLV | 3-1-0 | 9 | 10-3-0 |
| SJSU | 3-1-0 | 9 | 6-3-3 |
| USU | 3-1-0 | 9 | 7-5-0 |
| BSU | 3-1-0 | 9 | 4-8-1 |
| SDSU | 2-1-1 | 7 | 4-6-1 |
| AFA | 2-2-0 | 6 | 6-4-1 |
| CC | 2-2-0 | 6 | 6-6-0 |
| FSU | 1-2-1 | 4 | 6-5-1 |
| UNM | 1-3-0 | 3 | 5-5-2 |
| WYO | 1-3-0 | 3 | 5-6-1 |
| Nevada | 1-3-0 | 3 | 4-7-0 |
| CSU | 1-3-0 | 3 | 3-8-1 |
Match Prediction:
The Lobos are the better side in this match, but that being said, it is a weird matchup for the Lobos. There are three ways I see this match going, a Lobos 3-0 win, a 0-0 draw or a Wolf Pack 1-0 win. I would expect the first two outcomes to be the most likely, but the Lobos can’t take this match lightly because the Wolf Pack can absolutely win this match. I give the Lobos a 48% chance of winning this match and an 82% chance of coming away with a result. I predict a 3-0 Lobos win with two goals from Maddie Irwin and one from Claire Lynch.
Game Info:
Who: New Mexico Lobos (5-5-2, 1-3-0) vs. Nevada (4-7-0, 1-3-0)
When: Friday, October 7th, 2016, 7:30 PM M.T.
Where: Mackay Stadium, Reno, Nevada
Stream: MW Network