Sept. 11, 2009
SOUTH BEND, Ind.–The No. 38 University of New Mexico men’s soccer team fell to No. 12 Indiana 3-2 this afternoon despite putting up 12 shots against the Hoosiers. New Mexico scored first and led 2-1 with 11 minutes remaining on the clock, but two late second-half goals by Indiana set the final score. Lobo forwards Justin Davis and Stephen Brown scored a goal apiece in the loss.
“It was a game [in which] we played real well,” said Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “Indiana had four good chances and they scored on three of them. We’re a team that likes to take pride in being pretty mentally disciplined and we gave up two leads. We scored twice and gave up goals within five minutes both times. We’ve talked about having mental focus for ninety minutes.”
The Lobos snapped a scoreless tie in the 58th minute as Lance Rozeboom and Michael Green set the play up for Davis, who sent the ball past Hoosier keeper Luis Soffner. Indiana answered back just one minute later, as Lee Hagedorn knotted the match up 1-1 off an assist from Matt Wiett.
New Mexico regained the lead as Brown found the back of the net in the 75th minute, taking the ball from Davis and Green. Indiana rebounded quickly, however, evening the score at 2-2 just four minutes later on a Will Bruin header off a corner kick by Andy Adlard.
Alec Purdie notched the game-winner for the Hoosiers in the 86th minute, converting a Lee Hagedorn cross into a header that found the back of the net.
Both teams poured on the offense late in the game, more than doubling their shots in the second half. Indiana outshot New Mexico 13-12, and the teams had 11 and 9 second-half shots, respectively. The Lobos took six corners to the Hoosiers’ 3.
Lobo keeper Justin Fite recorded four saves in 90 minutes of play, while Soffner saved seven between the pipes for the Hoosiers.
“The positive is that we played one of the premier teams in the country, our team expected to win, and we should have won,” said Fishbein. “We’re not out here for moral victories, but if we can get on track we’re going to be an excellent team. Excellent teams don’t give up leads, though, and they manage games. We have to shift our focus to Sunday’s game.”
New Mexico continues play in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Noon MT on Sunday, when they face the host team, No. 10 Notre Dame. Please visit GoLobos.com for more information and GameTracker during Sunday’s match.