Nov. 13, 2009
DENVER, Colo.–The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team handed Denver a 1-0 loss on their home turf tonight in the MPSF Tournament semifinals. Despite frigid temperatures, wet conditions, and a late kickoff, the No. 2 seed Lobos shut out the No. 4 seed Pioneers for the victory. Justin Davis led the way for New Mexico, striking just over eleven minutes into the game. The Lobos advance to the MPSF Championship Game where they will face No. 1 seed Sacramento State at 1 p.m on Sunday, Nov. 15.
“We really got at them early on,” said Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “We were unable to put the second one in, which would have really finished them off. But we defended very well and it wasn’t as close as the score line was. We made it harder on ourselves by not putting the second goal in. But I was proud of our guys’ commitment, their defending, and we played hard overall. It was a good performance.”
New Mexico bolted out of the gate, as Davis took a shot at 2:34 that hit the post. He then gave the Lobos a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute with a goal that would prove to be the game-winner. Stephen Brown found Davis with a pass at the top of the box, and Davis slipped past the Denver defense to net one in the bottom right corner of the net. Davis’s strike stood up for the remainder of play. The Lobos pounded Pioneer keeper Joe Willis with 14 shots, but were unable to find the back of the net again despite numerous quality chances.
In prior action today, No. 6 seed UNLV held No. 1 seed Sacramento State at a scoreless draw for nearly 102 minutes. The score was knotted at zeros for the majority of play, broken up by a sudden-death goal in the first overtime period by Sac State’s Matt Linenberger. Linenberger received a pass from Fernando Cabadas and dribbled into the box to slip past UNLV goalie Roland Swanson for the strike. Linenberger single-handedly lifted the Spartans to the 1-0 victory and the MPSF Championship Game where they will face the Lobos on Sunday.
The winner of the MPSF Tournament will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Please visit GoLobos.com for more information and coverage of Sunday’s game.