Nov. 13, 2005
The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team clinched its second-straight Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s soccer championship with a 1-0 win in overtime over Air Force today. It may have been Senior Day at the UNM Soccer Complex, but a pair of underclassmen came up huge in the first extra frame for the third-ranked Lobos. Freshman Brandon Barklage fed sophomore Blake Danaher for the game-winning strike in the 97th minute, giving New Mexico its fourth conference title in five years.
The Falcons (8-9-2, 6-3-1 MPSF) played UNM tough in the first meeting of the season on Oct. 7, shutting out the Lobos 0-0 in double-overtime. It was the first time UNM had been blanked since the 2003 season. Air Force played stingy defense again today, only allowing two shots-on-goal in the opening frame.
“I don’t think our home-field advantage has the same effect in conference play because teams have been here before and know what to expect,” stated UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “We had another big crowd today (3,121), but teams are getting used to that we they come here. However, the crowd got into the game in the second half and we didn’t disappoint.”
The Lobos (15-1-2, 7-1-2 MPSF) picked up the pace in the second period, forcing Falcon keeper Brian Guyette to make four more saves. Unfortunately, UNM was unable to find the back of the net in regulation, sending the Lobos to their seventh OT game of the season.
New Mexico controlled play from the opening whistle in overtime, and kept the ball on Air Force’s half. The decisive play came when Barklage took a pass down the right side of the field. He beat his defender out of the corner and made a move to the near-post. Barkalge spotted Danaher moving into the box and played a pass back to the speedy forward. Danaher took one look at the keeper and went far post for the winning score. It was Danaher’s second goal of the season and the fifth assist of the year for Barkalge.
“I saw the keeper cheating near post,” stated Danaher. “That’s where I wanted to go, but once he committed, I took the shot high and to the far post. I knew it was good as soon as I hit it.”
New Mexico also tied a school-record with its 11th shutout of the season. Sophomore keeper Mike Graczyk also added to his single season shutout record and dropped his goals-against-average to 0.60. The Lobos got the win despite not having senior playmaker Lance Watson. Watson injured his leg in New Mexico’s 1-0 win over Denver on Friday night, but should be ready for NCAA action.
The OT tally gave UNM its fourth MSPF title in five years and the third under Fishbein’s guidance. New Mexico’s 15 wins are the third most in school history and all three of the top winning years have been under Fishbein.
UNM also clinches the MPSF’s automatic berth to the NCAA Chmapionships for the fourth time in five years. The Lobos will out who their first opponent will be when the 48-team field is announcd tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. (M.S.T.) on ESPNNEWS.