New Mexico holds off Houston rally

Lobos have highestscoring game of year

After conceding an early goal, the New Mexico women’s soccer team came roaring back with three unanswered goals, then survived a late rally Friday to take a 3-2 win over Houston.

“It’s a big deal for us,” Lobos coach Heather Dyche said of beating a team like Houston (3-31). “But any game we win is a big deal for us. The most important thing for our team right now is we’re really focused on putting in 90 minutes of effort.”

After getting up 3-1, UNM almost let that effort slip away.

“They did a great job, they pushed five or six forwards into the game and it’s hard to defend,” Dyche said. “They get a lot of credit for not giving up down 3-1.”

But New Mexico (4-3-0) found a way to dig in and pull out the result.

“And I think we’re getting better and better and better at that,” she said. “I like that we were gritty at the end of it. It wasn’t pretty but we weren’t going to back down.

“We almost got one on them. I like our team spirit right now. We’re not going to out-skill anybody so we have to out-fight everybody. I think in the last four games we’ve been really good at that.”

The Lobos fell behind in the 22nd minute when a header dribbled in after a scrum for the ball in front of the net.

That, however, just seemed to spur on UNM, said freshman Jenna Killman.

“I think it was definitely an ‘OK, let’s go,’ type of thing,” she said. “Our energy was high all the time, it was high intensity. We’ve been working on it a lot in practice, finishing and I think that really pulled through for us in the end today and that’s why we won.”

Killman got the Lobos equal just before halftime, after Jessie Hix used a strong tackle to win a ball that popped to Killman, who tucked it inside the far post.

Almost 20 minutes into the second, Hix gave the Lobos the lead, finishing off a corner kick from Jessica Nelson with an authoritative header.

“Jessie heads stuff that I would duck,” Dyche said with a smile. “She’s brave. That’s a difference maker. People are afraid of her.”

Killman finished off New Mexico’s scoring after taking a pinpoint through ball from Jessica Olguin and patiently waiting for an opening to slide it in.

“I have to give all my credit to my teammates because I would not have gotten there without them,” said Killman, who came off the bench to score her first Lobos goals. “In training recently, they have been pushing me harder and harder.”

Although this was UNM’s first game with more than one goal, Dyche said there is room for improvement in that area.

“We’re still working on decision-making in the final third,” she said. “I still think there were a couple things we did (Friday) that should have been goals. It’s hard when you’re getting those chances to rule out emotion. You get a breakaway and you forget that you can take three more touches. I thought Eileen (Zendejas) was very good. I thought Jenna was very composed. Claire (Lynch) is always good in the box. Jessie is always good in the air. So I was happy to see them get rewarded for their efforts.”