For the UNM men’s and women’s soccer teams, Saturday was a day the teams finally got to face an opponent other than their teammates. Both teams tied their exhibition games and the coaches had mixed reviews on their teams’ performances at the UNM Soccer Complex.
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team gave up a goal in the last 40 seconds of the game to tie the New Mexico Hispanic All-Stars 2-2.
The Lobos dominated the first half, taking a 2-0 lead into halftime. They created many scoring opportunities and outshot the opposition 18 to 1. In the second half, however, the Lobos gave up a quick goal and looked sloppy the rest of the game.
Despite the tie, head coach Klaus Weber was impressed by his teams’ offensive play.
“We just wanted to get a quick feel about where we’re at and establish the baseline,” he said. “We’re pleased the way it worked and how we played in the scrimmage, especially the first half.”
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With the team’s first game less than a week away, Weber said his team still needs some fine-tuning before the season starts.
“We need to still work on all parts of our game,” he said. “We, at times, lost our midfield, we did not connect well up front and we made little mistakes on defense.”
UNM’s first game is Aug. 31 on the road against Oral Roberts University.
Junior defender Junro Narita opened the scoring for the Lobos when he scored on a penalty kick with four minutes left until halftime after a foul was called in the box by the All-Stars. One minute later, junior forward Gamal Douglas one-touched a cross from Narita into the back of the net.
Women’s Soccer
The old versus the new battled it out for bragging rights when the women’s team tied the UNM Alumni 2-2.
The teams went back and forth for much of the game. The Lobos held 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but could not hold off the alumni.
Head coach Kit Vela said the team came out nervous because it was the players’ first time playing in a new system against an opponent.
“We were working on a few things, but in the first half we were not very good,” she said. “In the second half we were a lot better, but still not where we want it to be. That’s what these games are good for, you don’t want to go into your first game without having a scrimmage.”
Vela said the major thing the team needs to work on is defending against set plays because the alumni scored both goals on free kicks.
“I was disappointed in a few things that we didn’t do, things that we have been training at,” she said. “But I was happy with the fact that they never stopped, they never quit and they fought hard. Things weren’t working and they tried to fix them.”
UNM opened up the scoring when junior midfielder Tara Alarid scored an unassisted goal seven minutes into the second half. She came out of a scramble in front of the goal and shot the ball past the goalkeeper. Then, with the score tied at one, freshman midfielder LeAnne Hendren retrieved a loose ball in the box and shot it past the goalie in the 81st minute.
UNM opens the season on the road Aug. 31 when it plays Colgate University.
