Sept. 18, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.–The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team scored two goals in the second half in a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the visiting UC Davis Aggies. Senior Stephen Brown ignited the Lobo offense with a blast from 20 yards out that found the far corner of the net to knot the game at 1-1 in the 56th minute. Senior Simon Ejdemyr scored the game-winner on a penalty kick, going top-shelf on Aggie keeper Ryan McCowan at 71:27 after Lobo Justin Davis was pulled down in the box. Ejdemyr’s goal makes him a perfect 8-8 on career penalty kicks.
“It was a good win, but more difficult than it should have been,” said Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “We had a lot of chances early on and when you don’t put those away, you leave yourself open a little bit. They scored on a set piece and we made it challenging, but I was proud of our guys. They were confident throughout. We got a great one by Stephen Brown, then Davis got pulled down and Simon’s been money on the PK’s. [These] kind of games cause you to age quickly because when you have a game in hand like that you have to put it away early.”
New Mexico created several offensive opportunities, outshooting UC Davis 13-9 and taking nine corner kicks to the Aggies’ four. Paul Marcoux put UC Davis on the board first, netting a header off a Julian Godinez corner, and his goal stood for the remainder of the first half. Lobo keeper Justin Fite played the full 90 minutes in goal, notching two saves, while Aggie keeper McCowan saved 3 between the pipes. UC Davis outfouled New Mexico by a whopping mark of 14-6. New Mexico improves to 3-2-0 on the season with tonight’s win.
The Lobos continue play in the TLC Plumbing Nike Invitational this Sunday when they take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs at 1:30 p.m. MT at the UNM Soccer Complex. Please visit GoLobos.com for additional information about this weekend’s tournament, hosted by the Lobos.