Sept. 7, 2008
Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Men’s Soccer
Sunday: Louisville 2, Lobos 1 (OT)
Next: Lobos vs. No. 5 Akron, 7:30 p.m. Friday, UNM Soccer Complex
By Richard Stevens
Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It was a shot, a prayer, that seemed to have eyes. But it also was a Louisville shot that had touch which allowed it to be touched just enough by the wind and maybe caressed even more by luck.
“He might hit that shot one out of ten times, if that,” said UNM senior Chris Wright.
The shot by Louisville’s J.T. Murray came in the second overtime Sunday at the 101:33 mark and was a curve that would have made David Beckem envious. Murray floated his shot high in front of the University of New Mexico net. let it play in the wind and eventually settle in the far, deep corner. The goal handed Louisville a 2-1 win.
“That’s a tough way to lose,” said Wright, who scored UNM’s lone goal at the 65:29 mark to give the Lobos a short-lived 1-0 lead. Louisville tied the game 1-1 at the 69:44 mark.
Murray’s winning goal came on a breakaway down the left side where he outraced Lobos goalie Eric Staver to the ball. Staver tried to slide tackle the ball away from Murray, who one-touched the ball deep into the left corner. Staver scrambled to his feet but was too far removed from the net to do anything but watch the shot.
“I thought I had to get out and get to the ball,” said Staver, who had several outstanding saves during the game. “But he touched it by me before I could get to it.
“I didn’t (touch) it. He tapped it by and got off a lucky shot. He had the wind to his back and it curved in. I just couldn’t believe it, but he hit it nicely.
‘”It’s part of soccer (losing close games), but we never expect to lose a game like this and we know we are better than that team, so our team doesn’t take this very lightly.”
The loss dropped the 21st-ranked Lobos to 2-1-1. Louisville is 3-0-1. The attendance Sunday at the UNM Soccer Complex was 1,104. Lobo coach Jeremy Fishbein had an 18-3-14 mark in overtime going into the Louisville game.
Louisville ended the game with 21 shots and eight shots-on-goal. The Lobos had 16 shots, but only two shots-on-net. Staver had six saves and Louisville keeper Andre Boudreaux had a single save.
“It’s a horrible feeling to lose this way, but we have to respond the right way,” said Wright. “We played well for a great portion of the game and we were very patient.”
Wright showed good patience on his goal. He slipped in front of a rebound shot by teammate Justin Davis, neatly settled the ball and turned to his left to pound a shot past Boudreaux.
“It was a little bit of that (stopping a teammate’s shot), but I knew where I was in front of the goal, so I went for it,” said Wright. “Justin’s shot was tralling off wide, so I settled it and toe-poked it into a space. It was nice that I felt the composure that I had for a nice stretch last year.”
Wright’s goal fired up the home crowd, but it also seemed to fire up the Cardinals. They came back to dominate the next several minutes and threw two hard shots on net that Staver stopped.
The Cards’ first goal was a beauty. A long,floating pass found Card Bryan Kanu in front of the UNM’s net. Kanu lunged at the pass and drove a powerful header past Staver into the right corner. That made the score 1-1.
The Cardinals almost got a game-winner near the 16th minute. Cardinals’ Aaron Clapham found some space in front of the UNM net and blasted another sharp header at Staver, but the shot went wide right.
UNM’s Davis had a sweet shot at the net at the 43:54 mark of the second half, but his hard liner was knocked away by Cardinals’ Boudreaux.
Louisville was robbed near the 35-minute mark when UNM’s Staver made a great save on a low, hard shot to his right. It came off the foot of a Cardinal moving from left to right in front of the net and sending a shot back into the right side of the UNM net. Staver came cross, skidded to his right and cupped the ball with his right hand.
The Lobos actually hit the net in the first half, but it didn’t count. UNM’s Stephen Brown slipped behind the Louisville defense and flipped a right-footed shot past the left side of Boudreaux. Brown’s celebration was short lived as he was flagged for being offsides.
Brown voiced an objection to the sideline judge and was told by the referee to cool it. Brown didn’t cool it and was given a yellow card. The Lobos had three yellow cards in the first half as Jack Smithson and Zach Tierney also had the yellow flashed in their face.
The Louisville defense did a good job protecting its net in the first half as UNM had no shots on goal and seven shots total. Louisville had a single shot on goal and four shots, but UNM’s Staver was never really pressured and his one save was no challenge. The Lobos had three corner kicks in the first half and Louisville had one.
The Lobos next game is Friday in the Nike Invitational at 7:30 p.m. vs. No. 5 Akron. No. 24 Cal Poly plays Missouri State at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. The Lobos will face Cal Poly next Sunday at 5:30 p.m. preceded by Akron vs. Missouri State at 12:30 p.m.
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.