The UTEP soccer team is making history as it seems to have turned a corner in coach Gibbs Keeton’s fourth season.
When the Miners nipped San Diego (the school in the West Coast Conference) 1-0 at University Field Sept. 3 they moved to 4-0-2, the longest unbeaten streak to start a season since the 5-0-2 start in 2016. UTEP will try to match that when it starts a four-game road trip Thursday, Sept. 10, at UT Rio Grande Valley.
UTEP is the only unbeaten remaining in the Mountain West Conference, which has 11 teams for soccer.
UTEP has done this without one of its best players, Ashlee Mora, who is representing Mexico at the U20 World Cup in Poland.
"The team has deserved and earned
this, especially the senior class and then those who have chosen us as transfers and freshmen," UTEP head coach Gibbs Keeton said after his team beat San Diego. "They're the one that deserve the accolades for what we have done, but it's still early in the season and we're taking it game by game. For us, it felt great to be back home and get a win at home. That was really more so what we were focusing on."
UTEP has outscored its six opponents 10-1 and outshot them 91-60. Sophomore Zeta McDannels and senior Ashlyn Neireiter each have two goals to lead the Miners this season. Sophomore Savanah Finley has played all but 14 minutes in net and has five clean sheets.
The current road swing concludes on Sept. 24 when UTEP plays at UNLV in what will be the university’s first Mountain West Conference game. That is a week after the Miners’ trip to Las Cruces to play its only match this season against New Mexico State on Sept. 17.
UTEP cross country gets season underway
The UTEP cross teams opened their season at the Art Morgan Classic in Las Cruces, with the women finishing second and the men third. NMSU swept the team titles.
Nathan Kapel led the men with a fourth-place finish, while Eastwood High alum Salma Licon, a senior, was the top UTEP women’s finisher in 10th.
“I thought today was a positive way to open the season for both our men and women,” coach Francesca Green said. “There was a lot of good energy and competitiveness from our group, and it was great to see some of our newcomers get their first opportunity to compete in a UTEP uniform.
"We know this is only the beginning and there is a lot of work ahead of us, but today gave us a good starting point. Now we'll get back to work, continue building, and look forward to competing at home in a couple of weeks."
UTEP will be back on Sept. 19 with its sole home meet, the 40th Lori Fitzgerald Invitational at Ascarate Park.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP Miners soccer off to special start with unbeaten run
