Nov. 11, 2005
The No. 3 Lobo men’s soccer team survived a hard-fought match against a determined Denver Pioneer squad, 1-0, tonight at the UNM Complex. New Mexico battled a cold, windy night and a DU squad playing with nothing to lose to come away with its 10th shutout of the season. Junior Lars Loeseth scored off a cross from senior Jeff Rowland in the 59th minute for the game’s only score.
New Mexico (14-1-2, 6-1-2 MPSF) found out quickly that the Pioneers (6-10-1, 2-7-0 MPSF) came to play when DU’s Liam Girard earned a corner-kick in the seventh minute. His cross found James Merriman who headed what looked to be a sure mark to the right side of the goal. A Lobo defender jumped in front of the shot at the last second and the ball was cleared.
That was the only corner and shot-on-goal for either team in the opening half. Denver had the edge in shots, 6-5, in the opening period. Action went back and forth for the rest of the first half and the opening moments on the second frame, with neither team gaining an advantage on the scoreboard.
The decisive play came 14 minutes into the second half when senior Lance Watson won a ball on his own side of the field. Sophomore Joey Vitagliano took the pass and played a long ball ahead to Rowland. Rowland sent a cross from the right side to Loeseth who was streaking down the left. Loeseth calmly took the pass and beat DU keeper Matt Bredehoft for the 1-0 lead. It was the third goal of the year for Loeseth, who is also an All-American member of UNM’s ski team. Vitagliano and Rowland were credited with their second and third assists, respectively.
“Rowland played a perfect cross to me and I had an open shot,” stated Loeseth. “I had one of those earlier in the season and sent it way over the net. This time I stayed calm and put it past the keeper.”
Denver came back in the 73rd minute when Ben Mednodozza fire a bomb from outside the box. His attempt hit the cross bar and fell harmlessly off to the right side . Sophomore keeper Mike Graczyk was challenged two more times by DU’s attack, but made two great saves late in the game to preserve his school-record 10th shutout of the season.
“Denver definitely came to play tonight,” stated UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “They played a very direct game and it was difficult to play against. They had a good game plan but we gutted-out the win. It was a big win for us.”
New Mexico now faces Air Force (8-8-2, 6-2-1 MPSF) on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 1:00 p.m. (M.S.T.) on the Lobos’ Senior Day. Nine seniors will be honored before the match with the Falcons, including Ben Ashwill, Erik Bagwell, Josh Brown, Cody Hanna, Ryan McVay, Brandon Moss, Jeff Rowland, Lance Watson and Matt Wootton. UNM is now in first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with 20 points on the year. With a win against AFA, New Mexico would clinch the MPSF title and the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. Both Air Force and San Jose State (10-6-2, 6-2-1 MPSF) are tied for second place with 19 points and along with UNM are the only teams still in the hunt for the MPSF crown. San Jose State plays at Sacramento State (9-6-2, 4-4-1 MPSF) on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2:00 p.m. (M.S.T.).