Lobos Draw With Denver in Pink Game
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Despite a strong Lobo defensive effort, the University of New Mexico men’s soccer team played to just its third draw of the season on Wednesday night, tying the visiting Denver Pioneers 0-0 in double overtime in the Lobos Love Pink game. Senior Jason Beaulieu notches his fourth shutout of the season in the tie.
The Lobos (8-4-3) held the Pioneers (8-6-1) to just one shot in the final two periods but were ultimately outshot on the night 13-11. Statistically, both teams were very even with Denver emerging with a slight advantage in shots on goal, 7-6, while UNM edged the Pioneers in corner kicks, 6-4.
“It’s a disappointing result, that being said, right now we’ve got to look at the positives,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “I thought defensively we were pretty good, we didn’t really give them any good chances and I thought we had quite a few really good opportunities.
It’s disappointing to get the tie, but that’s our mentality. We’re here to win games, we’re not here to tie games.”
The Lobos got the shots started just eight minutes into the match when redshirt-sophomore Devin Boyce fired just wide from in the box. Just a minute later, Beaulieu notched his first save of the night, a point-blank shot on goal that Beaulieu dove on and scooped, and the shots traded from there.
Just five minutes later, at the 14:03 mark, the Lobos pulled Pioneer keeper Will Palmquist out of the net in his debut performance on the season for Denver. Junior Antione Vial looked to take advantage of the open net and launched a shot that appeared close, but ultimately sailed over the crossbar to keep the score 0-0.
The teams continued to trade shots throughout the first half but the game took a turn when, in the 35th minute, Vial was awarded a red card and ejected on a questionable call. The Lobos were down a player for just over a minute as the referees turned around and awarded a matching red card to the Pioneers’ Blake Moncur.
Both teams completed the remainder of the match with just 10 players.
At the half, Denver led 5-4 in shots, 3-2 in shots on goal and maintained a slight edge in corner kicks, 2-1.
The momentum began to align with the Lobos in the final five minutes of regulation and was sparked by an Aaron Herrera free kick that nearly made it 1-0 UNM. Herrera was poised at the top of the box in the 84th minute and took his chance, but a near miss to the right kept the teams scoreless. The shot sprung the Lobo offense into action as they hoped to avoid another non-conference tie. UNM continued to create chances, firing a pair of shots and posting two corner kicks in the waning minutes of regulation.
The Lobos outshot the Pioneers 3-1 in the overtime periods while both teams posted a corner kick apiece.
UNM returns to action for senior night on Saturday, October 28 when the squad hosts Charlotte for senior night, kicking off at 6 p.m. Additionally, the Lobos have clinched their spot in the 2017 Conference USA Tournament and will look to continue with postseason play following their next two matches against Charlotte and Old Dominion.