The New Mexico men’s soccer team remained perfect, finishing up the exhibition schedule by shutting out Grand Canyon on Saturday.
The Lobos looked sharp in their first two exhibition matches, dispatching of both Air Force and Colorado School of Mines by a final of 3-1.
UNM put the defensive clamps on against the Lopes and preserved the shutout late in the match--something head coach Jeremy Fishbein seemed to take note of.
“We got the shutout and there was a big save by Jason (Beaulieu) at the end,” he said in a release. “We scored two nice goals, had a chance to probably score a couple more that we should have put away, but for the third exhibition game and where we are at, I am happy and excited to move forward.”
Fishbein said he was pleased with the overall effort as the team moves toward its season opener on the road at No. 11 Washington.
The Huskies were also the final opponent for the Lobos last season. Washington eliminated New Mexico from the 2016 NCAA tournament after grinding out a 2-0 victory in the second round.
But UNM showed no signs of looking ahead to a matchup with Washington, as it got on top early in the second half.
New Mexico took a 1-0 lead on the leg of freshman Alex Vedamanikam, breaking the stalemate in the 53rd minute.
Fellow freshman Nick Taylor found the back of the net for the Lobos again in the 66th minute, giving his squad some breathing room.
Despite some solid scoring chances for Grand Canyon, Beaulieu was able to stave off all of them en route to the 2-0 final score.
The Lobos matchup against the Huskies will take place on Aug. 25 at 9 p.m. The team will also face Seattle before returning to host its home opener against UNLV.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
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