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UPCOMING The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team leaves the friendly confines of the UNM Soccer Complex for almost six-weeks starting this weekend as they get set to take the longest road trip in program history. The team will play ten games in six different states, travelling as far east as Auburn, Alabama and west as far as San Diego, California.

The first pair of games for New Mexico take place in El Paso, Texas Sept. 12 and 14 against UTEP and Texas Tech respectively. UTEP and UNM have a long-standing rivalry that dates back to the first meeting in 1996 when the Lobos beat the Miners 2-0 on the road. New Mexico beat UTEP again the next year (1997) at University Stadium in El Paso, after a grueling overtime period resulted in a 1-0 win for the Lobos.

Since then, New Mexico has not been able to get a win against UTEP. Last year’s 5-1 loss at home was the worst defeat the Lobos have suffered at the hands of the Miners. Revenge is in the air this season, as UNM looks to break the four-year losing streak.

On Saturday, Sept. 14 the Lobos will be seeking improvement again when they face Big 12 opponent Texas Tech. The Red Raiders solidly defeated the Lobos last year by a score of 4-1 on UNM turf. New Mexico recorded 21 shots and had numerous scoring chances, but was unable to find the back of the net. Junior Marte Dolva scored the lone Lobo goal in the 53rd minute.

The last time UNM and TTU met on neutral ground in El Paso, Texas (1999), they played to a 1-1 tie in overtime.

SCOUTING THE MINERS AND RED RAIDERS UTEP enters Thursday’s match undefeated, having won three straight contests. The Miners have scored 15 goals and allowed only four, a feat they haven’t accomplished since 1997, when 25 goals were scored in the first three games of the season and only three conceded. Senior offensive partners, Miranda Cuthbertson and Holly Cohen have shared a majority of the goal scoring power this year, notching four goals apiece. Cohen currently tops the Miner charts with ten points, while Cuthbertson trails closely with eight.

Cohen, a 2001 transfer from Arizona State, was the offensive catalyst for the Miners last year, taking 66 shots and recording 20 points from nine goals and two assists. The El Paso native was also named to the All-WAC second team for her standout offensive efforts.

So far this year, goalkeeping duty for the Miners has been split between sophomore Carol Moore and freshman Kyla Clark. Moore has seen action in one game, yielding three goals and making one save. Clark has been more solid in the two games she has played, recording seven saves and earning an impressive 0.50 goals against average.

Texas Tech will be looking for its third win of the season in the Sept. 14 game against New Mexico. The Red Raiders opened their 2002 season on the road in New York. The team beat Colgate 2-1 and Syracuse 3-1. The 2-0 record accomplished at the Syracuse Orange Classic gave TTU its best start of the season since 1996. Hopes of going 3-0 were spoiled by Southwest Texas State on Sept. 6 when the Bobcats got a late goal in the second half, making the final score 2-1.

Pacing the TTU offense in the early portion of the season has been New Mexico’s own, sophomore Roxanne Frilot who has notched three points on a goal against Syracuse and an assist in the 2-1 defeat of Colgate.

Of note, the Red Raider roster has four players from Albuquerque (all sophomores), including Roxanne Frilot and twin sister Nicole (both of Sandia High School), as well as Allison Seifert and Erin Shrouf of La Cueva High School.

LAST WEEK Junior forward Marte Dolva had a breakout performance for the University of New Mexico women’s soccer team Friday, Sept. 6, scoring two goals and notching an assist in its 4-0 defeat of Houston. The Lobos out-shot the Cougars 22-7 and limited their opponents to a mere three shots on goal.

The game began slowly, as both teams tried to find a rhythm. The Lobos were the first to make their mark on the score sheet in the 27th minute, after a misfired kick from Cougar goalkeeper Erin Ferguson, found its way to the foot of Marte Dolva. With composure, the junior from Geilo, Norway controlled the ball and placed a shot low in the corner of the Houston goal, out of reach of a diving Ferguson. Dolva would strike again seven minutes later on a penalty kick that resulted from a foul and subsequent yellow card in the Houston box. Dolva stepped calmly up to the ball and cracked a shot that hit the upper netting in the center of the goal. The shot fooled Ferguson, who dove to her left. . UNM would continue its scoring streak in the second half with a goal from junior Erchen Theys (Langthorp, Belgium); her second in two games. In the 48th minute, Theys broke free in the midfield, faked out two Cougar defenders, and rifled a curving shot for the score. New Mexico wasn’t done yet. Substitute midfielder Coco D’Angelo (Mission Viejo, Calif.) would finalize the score with a goal at the 78:15 mark. D’Angelo received a through ball from the left side that she easily slipped past a Houston defender and newly substituted goalkeeper Sarah Webster, bringing the crowd of almost 950 to its feet. Marte Dolva was credited with the assist, bringing her point total to five for the night.

Erchen Theys led the Lobos in shots with five and was followed by junior Abbie Partch (Albuquerque, N.M.) and sophomore Rachael Addison (Tyler, Texas) who both tallied three.

The Cougars managed a total of seven shots, three of which were recorded by Kelly Golden. Houston keeper Sarah Webster and UNM’s Kristen Winters (Lakewood, Colo.) made two and three saves respectively. Winters recorded the shutout for the Lobos.

The first goal of the afternoon came from freshman Nicole Pitcock (Stockton, Calif.) The forward was fed a long pass from fellow newcomer Eryn Paetz (San Pedro, Calif.) which she controlled and easily converted for her first goal of the season. Yet again, junior Marte Dolva (Geilo, Norway) made her mark on the score sheet, tallying the second Lobo goal and her third of the season. In the 30th minute, Dolva received a Kristen Winters punt and placed a shot past a leaping Andrea Berra. The goal brought her to a total of seven points on the weekend.

A series of substitutions for the Lobos early in the second half proved to be a success. At the 60:11 mark, Michelle Nowfel, fresh off the bench, got a rebounded shot off in the 18-yard box that stunned NAU’s Berra and found its way into the back of the Lumberjack net. The final Lobo goal was executed in the 70th minute after Laura Hafner (Katy, Texas) got on the end of a Michelle Longmire corner kick to put the Lobos up 4-0.

The Lobos’ safe lead was questioned with 11 minutes left in the game. A UNM foul in the box at the 79:33 mark gave the Lumberjacks a chance to answer back on a penalty kick. Sierra Cristiano stepped up to take the kick for NAU and had no problem putting it past Kristen Winters (Lakewood, Colo.) who was unable to reach the high shot. NAU added another goal in the 84th minute when Adria Barchi managed to control a feed from the wing and put away a shot that made the final score 4-2. Carin Larkin was credited with the assist for the Lumberjacks.

The stingy New Mexico defense held NAU to only six shots. On the other end of the field, NAU struggled to keep the bombardment of Lobo shots to a minimum and ended up yielding 17, ten of which were on goal. Goalkeeper Kristen Winters was required to make two saves, while Andrea Berra earned five, four of which came in the first half alone.

TEAM NOTES •UNM cracked into the record books with its 4-0 defeat of Houston on Friday Sept. 6, tallying the most goals in a game since its 4-1 defeat of Denver on Sept. 19, 1999

•The 4-0 win over Houston also gave he Lobos the biggest margin of victory since their Oct. 12, 1997 5-0 win over Wyoming

•The Lobos recorded the most goals scored in back-to-back games (8) over the weekend since the 11 that were scored in a 6-0 victory over South Alabama and a 5-0 defeat of Jacksonville State on Sept. 21 and 22 of 1996.

PLAYER NOTES •Marte Dolva had the best two-game point accumulation of her career this past weekend. On Sept. 6 against Houston, Dolva tallied two goals and one assist on eight shots and recorded a goal and five shots against NAU on Sept. 8. The junior forward’s seven point total in the two games already surpasses the two points on one goal she earned in all of the 2001 season. For her efforts, Dolva was honored with the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week. The weekly honor is the first of Dolva’s career and only the second ever for a New Mexico women’s soccer player. Senior goalkeeper Shelly Hammock garnered the award last year after helping the Lobos upset no. 12 ranked Kentucky, 1-0 in Lexington, KY.

•Senior Michelle Nowfel moved up to fifth place on the all-time career goals list with ten after notching a goal in the 4-2 defeat of NAU. Nowfel was previously listed in the record books at seventh with nine goals.

•Sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Winters recorded her first career assist on Sunday against NAU when her punt was received by Marte Dolva down field and converted for a goal.

FROM COACH VELA (On the big win over Houston on Friday)

“Our first two games of the season prepared us for tonight. We needed to gain some confidence and realize that we’re a good team and that we’re only going to get better.”

(On Marte Dolva’s performance):

“Marte had a spectacular game tonight. We always knew she was capable of this kind of performance and now she has shown us. She raised the level of play for the entire team.”

Lobos Women's Soccer

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