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Colorado Springs, Colo. – The University of New Mexico mens soccer team might not have expected much of a fight from a Drury squad that came into todays game with a 2-11 record on the season. However, after seeing the Panthers (2-12-0) only lose by one to a talented Air Force team on Friday night, the Lobos knew they were going to have their hands full in Colorado Springs, Colo. To make matters worse, UNM (10-2-0) was without their leading scorer, freshman Ben Ashwill, who stayed in Albuquerque resting a nagging ankle injury that has limited his playing time over the last two games. Despite all of the concerns, the Lobos were able to rally with two goals in the final five minutes to score a 3-2 victory for their 10th win of the season.
After piling up 31 shots against UC-Colorado Springs in their last game, the Lobos stumbled a bit out of the gate, only getting off seven in the first half. One of those first half shots was a penalty kick taken in the 28th minute by sophomore Danny Bills. Bills had been an automatic two for two on PKs this season but missed this shot wide left, keeping the game scoreless.
Senior Junro Narita and junior Stian Eriksen finally made a shot count in the 38th minute when the two connected for the games first score. Narita sent a cross from the right side that Eriksen left-footed to the upper-right corner of the goal from 18 yards out. It was Eriksens first goal of the season and the fourth assist for Narita, giving the Lobos a 1-0 lead that they would take into halftime.
The second half began with Drury equalizing quickly with a score in the 50th minute. Panther senior Tom Hoff launched a free kick into the box that junior Brian Crossan headed toward the net. The shot just got past Lobo goalkeeper Andrew Webers outstretched arms to tie the game at 1-1.
Drury would strike again in the 70th minute with what looked to be the game-winning goal. Junior Chris Mattingly sent a cross from the right side that was taken out of the air by junior Kyle Sebus who beat two Lobo defenders, giving DU a 2-1 lead.
The Lobos now had to turn up their offensive pressure in order to avoid an upset. In the 86th minute, senior co-captain Javier Carrasco collected a rebound out of a scramble in front of the net to score his second goal of the season and tie the game 2-2. UNM looked like they were headed for their second-straight overtime game until freshman Ryan McVay and Sophomore Itzik Rapaport connected for the game-winner. With just under a minute left in regulation, McVay won a header and took the ball down the right side. He then sent a cross to Rapaport who got behind the defense and created a one-on-one with Panther goalie Michael Gallagher. Rapaport got the shot off to beat Drury, 3-2, with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
The win moves the Lobos to 10-2-0 on the season and concludes their nonconference schedule. UNM reaches the 10-win mark for the first time since 1998 when they finished 10-8-1. The all-time Lobo record for wins in a season is 14, accomplished in 1994 (14-6-0) and 1992 (14-4-1). UNM will open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play against San Diego State on Sunday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m. (M.D.T.) at the UNM Soccer Complex.
|Score by Period|1st|2nd|OT|OT|Total| |Drury|0|2|-|-|2| |New Mexico|1|2|-|-|3|
Scoring Summary:UNM – 37:27 Stian Eriksen (1), Assist Junro Narita (4)Drury – 49:41 Brian Crossan (1), Assist Tom Hoff (2)Drury – 69:15 Trey Sebus (2), Assist Chris Mattingly (3)UNM – 85:01 Javier Carrasco (2)UNM – 89:48 Itzik Rapaport (1), Assist Ryan McVay (1)
Statistical Summary|Statistic|UNM|Drury| |Overall Shots|18|12| |Shots on Goal|7|6| |Offsides|3|1||Corner Kicks|9|3||Fouls|20|16|