April 9, 2011
Denver, Colo. — After getting knocked out of the NCAA College Cup in the opening round by the Creighton Blue Jays in 2010, the University of New Mexico exacted a small bit of revenge on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Creighton in a game played in Denver. Blake Smith took a pass from Michael Green and knocked it home for the only goal. New Mexico improved to 4-1-1 in the spring, and the Lobos won their fourth in a row.
Creighton ended UNM’s season in 2010 with a 4-1 win in Omaha in the opening round of the NCAA College Cup. Creighton is under the helm of a new coach in Elmar Bolowich, who came over from North Carolina, replacing former Lobo assistant Jamie Clark, who moved to the University of Washington.
The only goal came in the 71st minute. Michael Green stole a ball away from Creighton and hit a long through pass as Blake Smith slipped behind Creighton’s defense. Smith then parked one in the far side netting for the lead. From there, UNM’s defense held, getting a clean sheet from keeper Justin Holmes.
“Our young guy did very well. Guys like Giovanni Rollie and Carson Baldinger started, and Javier Gomez played about 70 minutes,” said head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “All of those guys were redshirts last year, and this was their first real long action of the spring.”
“Justin (Holmes) had another solid game, and our goal was a solid finish. I’m real happy with the result. We gave the ball away a little more than I would have liked but all in all, it was an important win for the boys.”
Next week the Lobos travel to Taos to take on the University of Denver in the showcase game of the brand new Taos Eco Soccer Complex. Taos Eco Park received a FIFA 2 Star Field Certification from the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world’s governing body for the sport of soccer. The Taos Eco Park is now the fourth FIFA 2 Star field installed in the United States, and the highest altitude FIFA 2 Star training facility in the world. Game time is 4 p.m.