Oct. 18, 2003
Box Score
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico Lobos (3-7-3, 0-1 MPSF) fell in its conference opener, 2-0, to UNLV tonight at the UMN Soccer Complex.
The Rebels’ Victor Arbelaez opened the scoring in the 22nd minute of play off a cross from Alex Hernandez who was out on the left wing. Arbelaez fired from the top right of the box giving UNLV the early 1-0 lead.
Play became very aggressive from that point on. New Mexico sophomore forward Ben Ashwill was awarded a yellow card in the 38th minute after both teams committed multiple fouls in a five minute span. One minute later, New Mexico found itself a man down, losing freshman midfielder Robbie C’deBaca to a red card.
Just 12 minutes into the second half, UNLV’s Rod Dyachenko scored his second goal of the season. Dyachenko took a feed from Hernandez in the upper left corner of the box and sailed the ball over junior goalkeeper Andrew Weber’s head for the final goal of the game.
The Lobo offense raised their intensity for the final 22 minutes. The men attempted ten shots and six cornerkicks in the final minutes. New Mexico’s best scoring opportunity was from junior midfielder Patrick Grange who attempted a header that just tipped the post and went wide right in the 70th minute.
On the night, Weber made eight saves on 18 UNLV shots. The Lobos also attempted 18 shots. New Mexico took nine cornerkicks compared to the Rebels’ six.
New Mexico returns to conference action Friday, at 6:30 p.m. when they travel to face Air Force.