by Kristie Boudwin
Daily Lobo
All the security guards in the world could not have stopped the elated 4,552 fans from rushing the UNM field after a shootout win for the UNM men's soccer team Tuesday night.
After coming back from the visiting team's fourth and fifth minute goals on Tuesday, the Lobos and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee went into a 10-minute overtime.
And then another.
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After 110 minutes of play, goalkeeper Mike Graczyk's shootout save on the Panthers' third penalty kick sealed the victory.
"They came out on fire, and we came out slow," Graczyk said. "We regrouped. Through the crowd and through the grace of God, we were able to pull off this win."
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said Andrew Boyens jumpstarted the Lobos' comeback with a goal in the 18th minute.
"Once we got that goal back, we felt we were the better team and we were going to get opportunities," Fishbein said.
The Lobos were down by one goal going into halftime, but senior Brandon Moss said the team talked about keeping its composure.
"We said not to panic," Moss said. "We have been confident the whole season that we are a better team no matter who we were playing."
In the 80th minute, Jeff Rowland scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season on a free kick just outside the box, taking the Lobos to a golden-goal contest.
After two periods of overtime, the Lobos eliminated UW-Milwaukee from the NCAA tournament, advancing 5-4 on penalty kicks. Moss said he didn't think advancing past the second round would be so hard.
"I think maybe in the back of everyone's minds we were overlooking them a little bit," Moss said. "It is pretty obvious that every game from here on out is going to be like this if not tougher."
The University of California State-Northridge defeated the University of California-Santa Barbara 3-2 earlier in the day. The Lobos will host Northridge for the Sweet 16 game Saturday evening.
Fishbein said the Lobos will need to be strong from start to finish.
"We are going to have to come out and play for 90 minutes, not for 84 minutes," Fishbein said.
