Men's Soccer Claims First Exhibition, 5-2
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team netted four goals in the second period to earn a 5-2 victory over Western Texas A&M on Monday morning at the UNM Soccer Complex. The match marked the first exhibition contest of the season for the Lobos, who will play two more before returning home for their season opener on Friday, August 24 against Seattle at 7 p.m.
Senior Antoine Vial scored twice for UNM in the contest while sophomore Tulsa transfer Matt Puig registered a pair of assists.
“The end result today was good, there were a lot of positives,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “I felt we made a couple of little mental mistakes that allowed our opponent some opportunities, but we shouldn’t give up goals. We have to be a little more disciplined defensively.
“For the first game as a new team, it was good to score goals. I thought we were pretty cohesive, our young guys showed really well, so with two more exhibition games, I think we’ll continue to progress and be prepared for our home opener.”
The Lobos kicked off scoring with the first goal of the match at the 18:51 mark when Puig found the back of the net, assisted by redshirt-freshman Bailey Letherman.
UNM enjoyed the 1-0 lead for just less than three minutes however, because the Buffaloes’ Michael Garcia found the top right corner of the net to tie it up at the 21-minute mark, edging just past New Mexico’s starting keeper, junior Ford Parker.
Neither team scored for the remainder of the half, but the Lobos came out on fire in the second. Vial scored just 3:39 into the frame, assisted by Puig, and UNM didn’t let off the gas. Just less than two minutes later, the Lobos extended their lead to two, 3-1, with a swift goal by freshman Omar Grey, assisted again by Puig.
The Buffalos reduced the deficit back to one, 3-2, in the 54th minute before the Lobos piled on another pair of goals to finish off the match. Vial made it 4-2, assisted by redshirt-junior Tom Smart, at the 57:27 mark before sophomore Nick Taylor registered the Lobos’ fifth goal with just 33 seconds left on the clock to seal the win.
The Lobos are set to take on Denver on Wednesday and Air Force on Saturday for their final two exhibition matchups, before hosting Seattle on Friday, August 24 at 7 p.m. in their regular-season opener. UNM will play a pair of home contests back-to-back as Washington travels to Albuquerque for a 7 p.m. match on Monday, August 27.
*Note – For UNM exhibition games, full statistics will not be published. Fans looking to follow the action can do so in person, or follow GoLobos.com for score updates and scoring summaries.
Scoring Summary:
1. 18:51 NM PUIG, Matt (G); LETHERMAN, Bailey (A)
2. 21:30 WT GARCIA, Michael (G)
3. 48:39 NM VIAL, Antoine (G); PUIG, Matt (A)
4. 50:33 NM GREY, Omar (G); PUIG, Matt (A)
5. 54:56 WT CHALLINOR, Gallum (G)
6. 57:27 NM VIAL, Antoine (G); SMART, Tom (A)
7. 89:27 NM TAYLOR, Nick (G)