Staff Report
The UNM men's soccer team lost two close games against ranked opponents over the weekend in the Mi Cocina Classic in Dallas.
Friday night the Lobos fell to 19th-ranked Tulsa 3-2.
The game opened with an early score by Tulsa's Ryan Pore. Six minutes later Lobo midfielder Lance Watson scored the equalizer with a shot past Tulsa goalkeeper Terry Boss.
The Lobos took a 1-1 tie into the locker room at intermission.
UNM struck three minutes into the second half with a goal from midfielder Jeff Rowland giving the Lobos a 2-1 lead.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
However, UNM was unable to close out the game. The final 13 minutes featured two of Pore's three goals of the match and the Lobos lost 3-2.
In net, UNM's Andrew Weber faced 14 shots with 11 saves. Pore led the way for the Golden Hurricane with a hat trick, scoring all three goals.
The second game saw the No. 9 Southern Methodist University Mustangs outlast the Lobos 1-0 Saturday night. The Lobos outshot the tournament hosts 13-10, but were unable to find the net. The Mustang's Duck Hashimoto scored in the 23rd minute from teammate Ryan Latham. The one goal was all SMU needed for the win.
The Lobos did reacquire the services of defender Brandon Moss against SMU. Moss had been sidelined in the match against Tulsa for a red card he had received in UNM's last home game against Cincinnati.
UNM's Watson and Matt Wootton received Mi Cocina All-tournament team honors.
The Lobos fell to a record of 2-3-1 on the season. UNM's three losses have been at the hands of three top-25 opponents. The Lobos lost every one of those games on the road and each by one goal.
UNM will play a pair of games this weekend at the UNM Soccer Complex with UC-Irvine on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Southwest Missouri State Sunday at noon in the Crescent Financial Solution Invitational.
The Lobos will open conference play on Oct. 24 when they face the Air Force Academy Falcons in Colorado Springs.
