UNM Lobos Look To Keep Air Force Falcons From Taking Flight

By Chris Walker

University of New Mexico Lobos Women’s Soccer touches down in Colorado Springs for an early afternoon match with the Air Force Academy Falcons.

Last Time Out

Earlier this season, the Lobos defeated the Falcons 4-0 at the UNM Soccer Complex. Gwen Maly bagged a brace, Madi Hirschman and Jaelyn Hendren each picked up goals to put this out of reach through the first 15 minutes of the second half of play.

Lobos Since Then

The Lobos were defeated 1-0 by Utah State Aggies on the road after a fully defensive 90-minute battle. The Lobos conceded a corner kick to the Aggies. The Aggies, who came to play, were able to ground the ricocheted ball that had dropped in from the corner and send it past goalkeeper Emily Johnson. Johnson had 6 saves on the day. The Lobos are currently 5-1 in the Mountain West, 5-1 overall.

Technically Speaking w/ Lobos Head Coach Heather Dyche

Head Coach Heather Dyche made herself available to me, via a video conference, on her way up to Colorado Springs, Colorado on Friday morning. We discussed the Utah State match namely, the challenge of playing opponents twice in the Mountain West Conference. We also talked about some of the Lobos’ defensive standouts.

On playing teams twice in the Mountain West after the Utah State result:

“Everyone is going to adjust and do whatever they can to flip the tide on our first match with them. That means we have to be tactically fluid and recognize that these teams are gonna come out and try to do different things. Utah State created some problems for us that I’m sure other teams are going to try to implement,” Dyche said.

“That’s always one of the things that we want to go into games and be able to adjust and be able to find ways to win. I think that’s going to be tested these next couple of weekends certainly. We have never done this before where you play everyone twice. It’s kind of exciting in terms of how do you adjust and how do you find different ways to win games,” Dyche cheeringly concluded.

On defensive stalwarts who may go unnoticed in the team sheet:

“I think Emily’s (Johnson) been outstanding. I think Karlee (Maes) and Myah (Isais) at center back . I don’t many teams that try to move center backs around too much. Those two have built a good partnership,” Dyche stated.

“I think Alexa Kirton is always kind of an unsung hero on the defensive side of the game. She does a lot of the work that a lot of people don’t want to do, come the dirty work,” Dyche added.

“I think those three have been impressive the entire season. I’m sure they will be this weekend too,” Dyche finished.

Lobos play Air Force (2-4) at 1 pm MT today. Air Force is coming off a win against physical juggernaut, Wyoming.