Oct. 31, 2003
Box Score
The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team won their second straight game with a 1-0 win over No. 25 San Jose State tonight at the UNM Soccer Complex. The Lobos evened their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record at 2-2-0 (5-8-3 overall) while first place San Jose State fell to 4-1-0 in the MPSF (9-4-2 overall). Junior Pat Grange connected on the game-winning goal in the 84th minute to give UNM their first win over a ranked team since the 1999 season.
UNM came into the game desperately needing a win, but shorthanded in personnel. The Lobos were without starting defender Matt Wootton who was sitting this one out due to a red-card he received last week against Denver. Making matters worse starting forward Jeff Rowland, the team’s second leading scorer, played only 25 minutes due to illness.
As a result, head coach Jeremy Fishbein was forced to shuffle his line-up. The backline saw the most change with sophomore Brandon Moss moving to the outside, switching with junior Danny Bills. Sophomore Casey Thompson was inserted into the starting line-up on the outside to go along with junior Jeff Krause. The moved paid off as Moss and Bills continued to hook up for crosses in the box all night, while the defense managed to deny any of the Spartans’ scoring opportunities.
On the offense, Grange started up front and led a persistent attack. The Lobos out-shot the Spartans, 22-10, led by sophomore Ricky Francis’s six tries. Senior Stian Eriksen took five shots of his own and moved into fifth place on UNM’s all time list with 123 for his career. UNM also took a season-high 14 corner kicks, compared to just two for San Jose State.
Despite a dominating performance by the Lobos, San Jose State held their ground for most of the game. Spartan keeper Tyler Tratten kept UNM at bay with five saves in the game. The decisive strike for UNM did not come until the 84th minute when sophomore Lance Watson sent a cross into the box that San Jose State tried to clear. Grange collected the ball at the top of the box and fired a bullet past Tratten for the 1-0 lead.
“I took a chance and waited at the top of the box to see what was going to happen,” stated Grange. “The clear came right to me and I just kicked it as hard as I could…the gamble paid off.”
Grange’s shot gave UNM their first win over a ranked team since the Lobos defeated No. 17 Cal State Fullerton on October 15, 1999 at the UNM Soccer Complex. San Jose State entered today’s game ranked No. 25 in this week’s Soccer America Top-25. UNM is now 8-26-0 all-time against ranked teams, including 1-6-0 this season.
The win also marked UNM’s second-straight shutout, a sign that the defense is recovering from a stretch of five games where they gave up 15 goals. “Not only is everyone playing better, but were coordinating and communicating better,” stated Bills. “Communication is key for us and if we can keep it up, we will only get better.”
The shutout also marked the 15th career skunk for Lobo keeper Andrew Weber, tying the all-time mark at UNM. “That’s nice,” stated the junior from Phoenix, Ariz. “That just says a lot about our team over the last three seasons. It’s more of a team accomplishment than an individual one.”
Fishbein was pleased with the team’s play after the game, but he added that there is still a lot of work to do. “This was a big win for us, but we’ve got to keep it up,” stated the second-year leader of the Lobos. “We need to stay focused and win on Sunday and get some momentum going.”
The Lobos will play their final home game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (M.S.T.) at the UNM Soccer Complex against Sacramento State. A win against the Hornets (5-9-2, 2-2-1 MPSF) will guarentee UNM a spot in the MPSF Tournament on November 13-16 at Sacramento State. It will be the final home game for Eriksen, the Lobos’ only senior. Fans can receive free admission if they bring their ticket stub from Saturday’s Lobo football game against UNLV.