Nov. 14, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico men’s soccer team played 200 total minutes of soccer this past weekend in the 2011 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament – and Kyle Venter was on the pitch for every single one of them. A center back – or rather, the center back – for the Lobos out of Aurora, Colo.,
Venter has made quite a name for himself this season in particular. After redshirting his true freshman season, Venter has started every contest for the Lobos for the past two years as the fulcrum of the back line.
While Venter played every minute of regulation in both games of the conference tournament, and 20 extra minutes of overtime in the championship match, perhaps his most important minute was the 85th of Sunday’s final round. After the Lobos went down a goal in the 84th minute, it was Venter who facilitated the game-tying point just over a minute later.
Standing at 6-3, Venter has become a target for the Lobos on corner kicks and set pieces. He’s tied four matches for New Mexico this season off of set piece opportunities, and went for a fifth on Sunday.
While the ensuing goal off of the Lobo cross was credited as a Bakersfield own goal, it was Venter’s pressure in the box that seemingly caused some confusion and the subsequent knotting of the match.
The sophomore was one of three Lobos named to the all-tournament team, and was honored on Top Drawer Soccer’s national Team of the Week for his efforts. The Team of the Week honor is the second for Venter this season, and the all-tournament spot was the third for Venter.
The Lobos earned a first-round BYE and No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host a second-round game on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. The team will take on the winner of the first-round Georgia State vs. Duke game.
The complete Top Drawer Team of the Week list is as follows:
GK: Tyler Miller, Northwestern
D: Diogo de Almeida, SMU
D: Patrick Watson, Saint Marys
D: Andrew Duran, Creighton
D: Kyle Venter, New Mexico
D: Adar Cohen, Xavier
M: Ben Speas, North Carolina
M: Jack Bennett St. Johns
M: Vincent Mediate, Delaware
M: Nick Millington, Elon
F: Miguel Ibarra, UC Irvine
Player of the Week: Tyler Miller, Northwestern