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Men's Soccer Falls at #3 Kentucky Sunday

LEXINGTON, Ky. — After a quick start for the third-ranked team in the nation, The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team fell by a final score of 6-1 on the road at No. 3 Kentucky on Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats racked up four quick goals early to put the Lobos in a deep deficit before UNM held Kentucky to just two goals over the final 74 minutes.

“We didn’t open the match with maturity and we were exposed defensively,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “There are no excuses, Kentucky is an excellent team with confidence and a few special players. We played into their strengths. As the coach, I didn’t prepare our team properly, I will take the blame for this one.”

Just 36 seconds into the match, Lobo keeper Ford Parker got his first taste of the Wildcat offense. He notched his first of five saves on the day and was peppered in net. Kentucky scored at the 6:02-, 7:43-, 10:20- and 16:05-minute marks to get out to a hefty 4-0 lead.

Senior Antoine Vial put the Lobos (4-10-0, 2-4-0 C-USA) back in the game with his third goal of the season just over five minutes after the onslaught of Kentucky scores. Vial took a pass from sophomore Nick Taylor and finished to make it 4-1 Kentucky. The assist was Taylor’s fifth of the season.

The goal was the only for UNM on the day as Kentucky (12-1-1, 5-1-0 C-USA) finished with two more goals in the second half for the final. 

The Lobos were outshot 13-5 overall including 11 on goal to just two on goal for UNM. Wildcat keeper Enrique Facusse registered one save and allowed one goal before Jackson Hawthorne entered the match for the final 7:50. New Mexico finished with an advantage in corner kicks, 2-1, while Kentucky tallied 14 fouls to just 10 for the Lobos.

UNM returns to action on Saturday, October 27 as they take on Marshall for Senior Night at 7 p.m. Prior to Saturday’s match, the Lobos will honor three seniors including Matt Dorsey, Simon Spangenberg and Antoine Vial.