Oct. 31, 2008
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Lobo Soccer
Friday: Lobos 3, UNLV 2
Where: UNM Soccer Complex
Up Next: At Sacramento State (Nov. 7)
By Richard Stevens, Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Since Jeremy Fishbein’s Lobos are a team of high expectations, there was good, bad and excellent Friday night in the University of New Mexico’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation battle with UNLV.
Good: The Lobos scored three goals.
Bad: The Lobos gave up two goals.
Excellent: The Lobos won 3-2.
“We did some good things tonight, but probably as a whole we’re not all that satisfied with how we played. We made some silly mistakes,” said UNM’s Mike Porter. “It’s a goal of ours every game to have a shutout. If we don’t achieve it, we kind of see it as a failure. At the same time, we hadn’t been scoring much, so the three goals tonight were a major plus.”
Porter definitely did one thing right for the Lobos at the UNM Soccer Complex. He scored what proved to be the winning goal with 13:30 left to play. The senior tracked a throw-in by Zach Tierney which was tapped by Justin Davis as Porter took a strong angle toward the ball.
It was all chest and all net. UNM had a cozy 3-1 lead.
“In practice, we have been working on our long throw-ins and crashing in the box,” said Porter. “I just happened to be in the right position.”
The goal came in handy for the Lobos as UNLV made it 3-2 with 3:56 left to play when Rebel Lamar Neagle, the MPSF’s leading scorer, found a loose ball dangling in front of the UNM net. The Reb drilled a shot past UNM keeper Justin Fite, a redshirt sophomore looking at his first minutes ever as a Lobo. Fite had knocked down the Rebs’ first shot, but the ball rolled to Neagle’s capable feet.
“I should have done better with it,” said Fite. “I made the wrong choice. I should have punched it out instead of trying to catch it. I caught it, dropped it, and a guy backed into me. It went back to a player (Neagle) and he hit the back post on me. It was unfortunate.”
The Lobos first goal was a combination of nice touch, a UNLV mistake and UNM’s Davis stationing himself in the right spot at the right time.
The score was set up by senior Jack Smithson, who floated a free kick high in front of the Rebels’ net. UNLV goalie Hawk Mummey charged out to snatch the ball out of the air. Only one problem. Mummey misjudged his short run and the ball drifted over his head and behind him to his right side. Davis was there and ready. The Lobo junior headed the ball into the open net to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead, which they carried into the half.
Disaster struck the Lobos with 33:22 to play in the second half when the Lobos were called for a hand ball in the box. That put Neagle in front of Fite looking at a penalty kick. Neagle calmly trotted up to the ball and drilled a screamer high and to Fite’s right side to produce the 1-1 tie.
Disaster turned on UNLV at the 25:50 mark when Porter was tripped inside the Rebels’ box while chasing down a ball. UNM’s Simon Ejdemyr, a 6-foot-5 junior from Sweden, stepped up to the penalty kick and booted in UNM’s second goal.
“I have a plan and it usually works,” Ejdemyr said of his penalty shot. “I don’t want to give away my strategy, but on a shot like that, you kick it as hard and as placed as you can. You put it where no matter which way the goalie goes, he shouldn’t be able to get it.” Ejdemyr’s goal made it 2-1 in favor of UNM.
The win pushes UNM’s record to 8-5-2 and 4-2 in the MPSF. The Lobos now go on the road for two league matches: at Sacramento State on Nov. 7 and at San Jose State on Nov. 9.
The win gave the Lobos some payback on the Rebs, who beat UNM 2-1 on Oct. 17 in Vegas. The Lobos final two games of the season are at home on Nov. 14 against Air Force and Nov. 15 vs. league-leading Denver. Friday’s win moved UNM into second place in the MPSF while Vegas drops into the third slot at 3-3-0. The UNM win also snapped a two-game losing streak to the Rebs. UNLV is the only MPSF team to post back-to-back wins over UNM since Fishbein took over the Lobos’ program in 2002. The win also raises UNM’s home record to 27-2-1 under Fishbein.
Fite saw a lot of time in the net during UNM’s spring exhibition season, but this was his first time on the field in an official NCAA game. “To get your confidence in an NCAA game is big time,” he said. “I’ve been waiting patiently to start and it was great to finally get a chance to get in there and prove myself.”
Fite had three saves in 90 minutes. The Lobos took 17 shots and had eight shots-on-goal. UNLV fired at the net 11 times with five shots-on-goal. UNM had eight corner kicks to four for the Rebels.
The Lobos dominated the first half with six corner kicks to one for UNLV and five shots-on-goal to two for the Rebs. The Lobos’ best chance at the net, besides Davis’ goal, was another Davis opportunity near the 10:10 mark of the half. Davis found the ball at his feet and ripped a shot at the diving Mummey. The UNLV keeper failed to control the ball and it bounced toward the open net. Mummey was saved by the post.
The Rebs had several nice chances in the first half. A free kick by Neagle was a screamer high and to the left of Fite. The ball bounced off the bar. Fite got tested again at 23:30 when Neagle received a pass in front of the UNM goal and to Fite’s left. Neagle sent a low shot to Fite’s right, but the Lobo dove to make the save.
“I was excited,” said Fite. “You get excited when you get called up to play. And it was intense out there.”
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. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner