HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team fought to a 1-1 draw at Marshall University on Friday night. Chris Wehan’s goal tied the score in the second half, but the Lobos were unable to find a winner as the Thundering Herd made a pair of goal line clearances in the match, including one in the final minute of double overtime.
“This is a tough result,” UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “It’s not an easy place to play, and it was their homecoming, but this was a pretty disappointing tie. They didn’t have too many dangerous chances, and we had a lot that we couldn’t put away.”
Outside of its lone goal, Marshall had probably its best chance of the match in the 10th minute on a mini breakaway. But Jason Beaulieu came off his line well to close the angle and save the shot.
After that it was the Lobos (7-4-3, 1-3-1) getting the better of the chances for the majority of the game. Their best opportunity in the opening 45 minutes came in the 31st minute. Wehan sent in a great corner that found Josh Dye’s head, but his shot was cleared off the line by a Marshall (4-8-1, 0-5-1) defender. Wehan was then denied a goal of his own in the 34th minute due to a nice save by Dominik Reining.
However, for the second match in a row the Lobos allowed a goal in the opening minute after halftime. A giveaway near midfield led to a breakaway and Rimario Gordon was able to chip one over Beaulieu to give the Thundering Herd the lead at 45:46.
But UNM turned to its leading scorer to even the match just under 12 minutes later. Wehan took a pass from Gleadle and was able to poke it past Reining for his 10th of the season and the 23rd of his career.
“For the most part we did a lot of things right,” Fishbein said. “We missed a couple very good chances, and we had a bad giveaway that led to their goal, but we came back and played pretty well.”
Wehan had a tremendous chance to put UNM in front with just six minutes remaining, but his shot from about 10 yards out sailed just over the crossbar.
As the match moved into overtime the Lobos had the better chances, including a rocket over the crossbar by Niko Hansen and a pair of corners late in the first extra session. Another string of corners late in the second session led to a chance in the box by Matt Dorsey, but his shot that was destined for the right corner of the net was again cleared by the Marshall back line.
“We wanted a better result tonight,” Fishbein said, “but we’re going to keep fighting and keep getting better, and we’re looking forward to a big one Tuesday night at home against Charlotte.”
Scoring Summary
Marshall (45:46): Gordon (Jodah)
New Mexico (58:36): Wehan (Gleadle)
Cautions
New Mexico: none
Marshall: none
Starters
Marshall: Reining (GK), Trupo, Gordon, Forde, Duchene, Kershaw, Jodah, Starcher, Marino, Pappas, Edginton
New Mexico: Beaulieu (GK), Casucci, Rochowski, Goss, Hansen, Khouri, Wehan, Gurule, Herrera, Dye, Gleadle
Notes
- Wehan is now tied for seventh in career goals at UNM with Mario Picazo
- Beaulieu finished with four saves
- It was Gleadle’s second assist of the season
Next up
The Lobos host C-USA foe Charlotte Tuesday night at 7.