Nov. 4, 2005
The No. 2 Lobo men’s soccer team scored a 3-1, payback win over San Jose State tonight in San Jose, Calif. New Mexico avenged its only loss of the season – a 3-2 defeat to the Spartans on Oct. 16 – with a strong performance on the road. Senior Hermann Trophy Candidate Jeff Rowland scored his 13th goal of the year while freshman Brandon Barklage and junior Andrew Boyens also found the back of the net in the match.
Barklage, a St. Louis, Mo. native, got things going early with a strike in the second minute of play. He ripped a shot off a pass from sophomore David Gualdarama for his first collegiate goal and Gualdarama’s second assist of the season. Barklage, listed by Top Drawer Soccer and a freshman to watch, finished with four shots in the game, including two that hit the post.
The Lobos outshot San Jose State 13-9 in the opening period and took their 1-0 lead into the locker room. SJSU evened the match early in the second frame when Dylan Pender collected a loose ball in the box and slid it past Lobo keeper Mike Graczyk in the 52nd minute.
Rowland and fellow senior Brandon Moss hooked-up in the 80th minute with the go-ahead goal. Moss fired a shot from 40 yards that Rowland redirected past Spartan keeper Richard Mann. Moss recorded his second assist of the year on the play while Rowland bagged what would be his fourth game-winner in 2005.
The strike was Rowland’s 42nd of his career, putting him two behind Mike Strati (1991-94) for second place on UNM’s all-time list. With 28 points on 13 goals and two assists in 2005, Rowland is in the top-10 in the NCAA in scoring and leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Any notion of a comeback was wiped out in the 82nd minute when senior Lance Watson was taken down in the box. UNM was awarded a penalty-kick and Boyens knocked home his fifth goal of the year. Boyens is now 2-2 on penalty-kicks this season.
The Lobos dominated the box score, outshooting the Spartans 22-11 in the match. UNM put 10 of their shots on-goal, compared to four by SJSU. New Mexico also earned seven corner-kicks, while San Jose State managed four in the match.
“This was a good road win for us against a good team,” stated UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “They have some dangerous players up top and they hurt us in the last game. Tonight we did a better job of controlling play and creating chances and got the result we were looking for.”
After sputtering on offense, scoring just four goals in a four-game stretch, the Lobos have exploded with 14 goals in their last three games. New Mexico’s 34 goals on the year rank in the top-15 in the NCAA.
With the win, New Mexico improves to 13-1-1 on the year and 5-1-1 in conference play. The Spartans fall to 10-5-2 overall, but hold onto to first place in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action with a 6-2-0 record in league play. UNM heads to Sacramento, Calif., for a match with Sacramento State (9-6-1, 4-4-0 MPSF) on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 2:00 p.m. (M.S.T.) that will conclude a three game road trip. New Mexico returns home on Nov. 11 to face Denver at 7:00 p.m. (M.S.T.) to kick-off their final home weekend of the 2005 regular season.