Las Vegas, New Mexico - The New Mexico Highlands soccer team is on the road in the Lone Star state for a pair of matches this week. On Wednesday afternoon the Cowgirls play at Lubbock Christian at 3:00 pm (MT). Then, on Friday evening, they play their final non conference match of the season at West Texas A&M. Match time in Canyon is 6:00 pm (MT).
Evans Time:
Amanda Evans was named the NMHU head coach on March 14th of this year and she earned her first win at the helm of the Cowgirls on September 5th 1-0 over Sul Ross State. Prior to coming to Las Vegas Evans was the head coach at Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia. She has 47 career coaching victories in her tenure at the collegiate level.
A Year Ago: The Cowgirls were 0-14-2 overall and 0-11-1 in 2023. They earned ties on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma State and in Las Vegas against Black Hills State.
RMAC Preseason Poll: New Mexico Highlands University earned 13 points to finish just behind Black Hills State in the balloting completed by the 13 conference coaches.
Last Week: The Cowgirls split a pair of matches in Kearney, Nebraska, last week beating Minnesota-Moorhead 2-1 and losing to nationally ranked Concordia-St. Paul 4-0.
Acacia Rodriguez and
Ruth Covey netted goals in Friday's win for NMHU.
When asked about the two matches in Nebraska, Head Coach
Amanda Evans said, "We consider the trip a success. The play was very physical and our team rose to the challenge. We got the win in the first match and we learned a lot in the second match against a nationally ranked team."
"The key to our style of play is to not rely on just one player," Coach Evans continued. "
Paige Gowen has been very consistent for us so far this season. And Cash's (
Acacia Rodriguez ) play has been a key asset for us also."
Scouting the Opposition: The Cowgirls open play this week at 1-2-1 Lubbock Christian. The Lady Chaps lost to Colorado School of Mines and MSU-Denver in their matches last week. NMHU is playing Lubbock Christian for the second consecutive season in Lubbock and trails in the all-time series 3-0. Alistair Caldwell is in his first season leading the LCU soccer program.
West Texas A&M brings a record of 2-1-0 into Friday's meeting with the Cowgirls. The Lady Buffs beat Adams State 1-0 and lost to Colorado School of Mines 5-0 in their matches last week. Chad Webb is in his 15th season leading the West Texas A&M program where he has a career record of 137-103-30. Friday will be the 19th all-time meeting between the two programs with West Texas A&M a 14-2-2 lead in the previous meetings.
"These matches this week are perfect for us to see how we will match up against the RMAC," said Head Coach
Amanda Evans. "These games are close (proximity) games for us in our region and good crossover games."
2024 Roster: Coach Evans has assembled a roster that features 11 returning players and 13 newcomers to the NMHU programs.
Roster breakdown:
By Class By Home State
Freshman 8 New Mexico 8
Sophomore 2 California 7
Junior 8 Colorado 3
Senior 6 Arizona 1
Hawaii 1
Mississippi 1
Nevada 1
Canada 1
United Kingdom 1
Up Next: The Cowgirls open RMAC play on September 27th at Colorado Mesa in a 7:00 pm match.
