Oct. 26, 2003
Box Score
The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team got a much-needed win today at Denver. The Lobos scored a 1-0 victory for their first win in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. New Mexico (4-8-3, 1-2-0 MPSF) also snapped a seven-game winless streak and won for the first time in five games. Sophomore forward Ben Ashwill scored in the last second of play to put the Lobos back on the winning track.
Just like Friday’s game against Air Force, New Mexico easily out-shot Denver, 22-15, including nine shots-on-goal. New Mexico also took twice as many corner kicks, 8-4, as the Pioneers (7-7-2, 1-2-1 MPSF). The difference in this game was the Lobos finally found the back of the net when it mattered.
UNM had plenty of opportunities to end the game in regulation as juniors Jeff Krause, Pat Grange, and sophomore Jeff Rowland all hit the post during the course of the game. Rowland also missed a one-on-one opportunity in the closing seconds of the first overtime.
It looked like UNM was about to equal a school record with its fourth tie of the season, but Ashwill’s last-second goal kept that from happening. Rowland took a pass from sophomore Lance Watson and flicked it over to another sophomore, Ricky Francis. Francis then chipped a pass over Pioneer keeper Lami Harmon that Ashwill was able to send home just as time expired.
The Lobo defense played a strong game with junior Andrew Weber making six saves and picking up the shutout. It is the third shutout of the season for the Lobo back line of Weber, Krause, junior Danny Bills and sophomores Brandon Moss and Matt Wootton. It is Weber’s 14th career shutout, and he is now second in all-time shutouts at UNM.
Today’s win could be an important confidence booster for a battered UNM squad for a number of reasons. First, the Lobo defense, which had given up an uncharacteristic 13 goals in the previous four games, scored its first shutout since a 1-0 win over IUPUI on September 5. Also, Ashwill, the 2002 MPSF goals leader, got a confidence-building game-winning score. Third, The Lobos won on the road for the first time since a season-opening win at Wisconsin on August 29. Finally, UNM has built some momentum for its final three games of the 2003 regular season.
UNM returns for the last two home games of the season this weekend. Friday night, the Lobos host MPSF leader San Jose State (9-3-2, 4-0-0 MPSF) at 7:00 p.m. New Mexico will then face Sacramento State (4-9-1, 1-2-0 MPSF) in the final home game for the Lobos’ lone senior, Stian Eriksen. Both games are extremely important for UNM who must qualify for the MPSF postseason tournament. Only the top six of the seven teams in the MPSF advance to the tournament to be hosted by Sacramento State on November 13-16.