Lobos vs. Wolf Pack: Women’s Soccer Edition Preview

by Zach

The Lobos 5-4-0 (1-1-0 MW) open their Mountain West home slate this weekend against the two Nevada schools, starting the weekend against the Nevada Wolf Pack 2-7 (1-1 MW). The Lobos started their Mountain West schedule with a good weekend at Colorado State and Wyoming, earning three points (win against Wyoming) and heartbreaker against CSU losing 1-0 in OT. This is a huge weekend and opportunity for the Lobos to stake claim to the top part of the conference. The Lobos have played well so far this season and will look to get their offensive attack clicking on all cylinders.

One Goal Matches?!

The Lobos have played a lot of one-goal matches to start the season, they have played seven of their nine matches in such fashion. While there is a good chance for one-goal matches, playing this amount of them is insane. This is something that could come into play as the season winds down and as the Lobos get into MW Tournament action. The Lobos have had stretches with a difficulty to get their attack going in the attacking third. If the Lobos can get their offense going, the Lobos should make a lot of noise during MW Play. One interesting note: The two matches the Lobos played that didn’t end in a one-goal difference were two 3-0 wins.

The Key of Jadyn Edwards

Sophomore Jadyn Edwards has been really good for the Lobos so far this season and, in my opinion, is the key for the Lobos attack going forward. Edwards has moved back to more of a winger which the Lobos have used to their advantage, allowing them to break down defensive units by attacking the side of the field she is on. Edwards has seen good results (2 goals, 2 assists) and could see those numbers explode here in the next couple of weeks. For fans of Lobo Men’s Soccer (RIP), Edwards reminds me of a couple of Lobos of yesteryear: Lance Watson and Chris Wehan (#YesWehan). Those are two players Fishbein would move around to find advantages on the field. I am excited to watch the continued growth of Edwards as her career moves forward.

Malia Vanisi

The sophomore goaltender has been fantastic for the Lobos this season, with a Goals Against Average (GAA) of .71, the Lobos have been able to stay in matches when working on the glitches in the attacking third. While GAA can be a deceiving stat (thanks to how well your defense does limiting shots), Vanisi has a very solid .848 save percentage and has allowed only five goals in 635:35 minutes of action. There has also been great defensive play to assist Vanisi on the backline, including a couple of clearances in key moments. It is exciting to watch what Vanisi and this Lobo defense are capable of, and this unit can keep the Lobos in any match and they should see great success moving forward.

The Mountain West Race:

So far, this MW season has been all about parity. Sure we are only a week plus of Conference play, but there are NINE teams with a 500 record in conference play, leaving just three teams with a different record (Boise State is the lone unbeaten at 3-0). That means the race for an MW Tournament spot has a chance to be insane this season. The Lobos have positioned themselves well with the huge 3 points on the road against two very good teams in Wyoming and CSU and getting confidence while playing on the road is going to bode well for the Lobos. While it looks like BSU may be the team that can run off and win the Regular Season Title, the Lobos could make things interesting and should at least be competing for the number 2 seed.

Mountain West Standings:

Note: Teams that are tied for 2nd and 3rd (except SJSU) have the same win percentage.

  • 1. BSU 3-0, 9 points
  • 2. FSU 1-1-1, 4 points
  • 2. USU 1-1-1 4 points
  • 3. Colorado College 1-1, 3 points
  • 3. Air Force 1-1, 3 points
  • 3. CSU 1-1, 3 points
  • 3. UNM 1-1, 3 points
  • 3. Wyoming 1-1, 3 points
  • 3. SDSU 1-1, 3 points
  • 3. Nevada 1-1, 3 points
  • 3. SJSU 1-2, 3 points
  • 12. UNLV 0-2 0 points

Weekend 2 MW Matches:

Thursday:

BSU 1 at SJSU 0

USU 1 vs. FSU 1

Friday:

UNM vs. Nevada 

AFA vs. Wyoming

Colorado College vs. CSU

SDSU vs. UNLV

Sunday:

UNM vs. UNLV

SJSU vs. USU

SDSU vs. Nevada

AFA vs. CSU

Colorado College vs. Wyoming

FSU vs. BSU

Keys To The Match

  • Scoring Early: One thing Nevada is not good at is scoring goals. In fact, through their first nine matches the Wolf Pack have only scored four goals. This should give the Lobos a huge advantage going into this match, but it is important for the Lobos to find at least one first-half goal. If the Wolf Pack are able to get to the half tied, I would look for them to pack things in and look for stealing a point on the road. If the Lobos are able to find a goal early in this match the Lobos could find themselves with a multi-goal win.
  • Work On Things: This is a weekend the Lobos could answer a few of the question marks they have as a team and could do so with little chance for a disaster of a result. The Lobos will need to find the combinations that work best and find out what this team is at the foundation and build from there.
  • Stop Brown: While the Wolf Pack does struggle on offense, one player that has made plays in the attacking third is Gabby Brown (3 goals and an assist). The Lobos need to keep Brown off the ball and force other Wolf Pack players to become the playmaker. If the Lobos can limit Brown’s impact the Lobos should win this one fairly easily.
  • Win One to Win Two: You have to take the first step before you take your second, and the same is true this weekend for the Lobos. This is a great opportunity for the Lobos to win two home matches and earn six points in the standings. The Lobos need to win Friday to set up the chance for a sweep of the two Nevada Schools.

Match Prediction:

I have the Lobos as heavy favorites heading into the match. This is a match that the Lobos should be able to dominate and put early pressure on the Wolf Pack backline. I have the Lobos odds of winning the match at 71%, odds of a draw at 26%, odds of a Wolf Pack win at 3%. The Wolf Pack will be playing a defensive style and will be looking to find a counter to win the match 1-0 if the Lobos are able to break down the defense early this one could get out of hand. I have the Lobos breaking through with the first goal in the first 20-minutes and breaking down the Wolf Pack defense a few more times in the match. I have the Lobos winning the match 2-0 with and a chance for that to grow to 3-0+.  It should be a good night for the home side.

Game Info:

Who: New Mexico Lobos (5-4, 1-1) vs. Nevada Wolf Pack (2-7, 1-1)

Where: UNM Soccer Complex, Albuquerque, NM

When: Friday, October 4th, 7:30 PM 

Stream: golobos.com