by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
The championship game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament Sunday in Sacramento was a hard-fought battle.
The Lobos lost to the San Jose State Spartans 3-2 in a match that was highlighted not for its spectacular play, but rather for the brawl that left five players ejected from the game with red cards.
UNM sophomore Jeff Rowland said the fight started when sophomore Lance Watson was involved in a conflict with one of the San Jose State players after being fouled. The incident turned ugly when Watson was punched in the face.
Rowland said that while Watson was on the ground, junior Danny Bills and sophomore Ricky Francis stepped into the fracas to protect their fallen teammate. Their actions proved costly as they were handed red cards for their involvement.
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Watson was also given a red card along with two players from the Spartans.
The Lobos played the remainder of the game with eight players to the Spartans' nine.
The Lobos got on the board first with a goal from Rowland off junior Jeff Krause's corner kick. The Spartans scored three goals in the second half before the ejections took place. Down a player, the Lobos could not muster enough strength as UNM midfielder Patrick Grange scored the final goal of the match to bring the Lobos within one.
The loss was heartbreaking to the team that has been to two consecutive NCAA tournaments after winning the MPSF.
"Everyone's real bummed," Rowland said. "It's hard to accept that the season's over for another nine months."
The Lobos were the two-time defending MPSF tournament champions and with a 5-1 win over the Air Force Academy Falcons in the semifinal on Friday, they were looking forward to another title.
"It shouldn't have been this way," Rowland said. "We had some bad luck this season. We were expected to win and it's disappointing that we performed like that this season with all the talent we had."
Grange and sophomore Ben Ashwill each had two goals in the Lobos' win over an Air Force team that beat them earlier in the season 2-1. Watson had the other goal of the match.
Despite the bitter end, the season still had positive aspects. Sophomore Brandon Moss was named to the MPSF All-Conference first team while senior Stian Eriksen, junior Andrew Weber and Watson made the second team. Ashwill was named as an honorable mention.
The Lobos also set a record with a team-high six players named to the All-Academic District VI team. Junior Eric Carlson and sophomores Matt Wootton, Rowland, Moss, Ashwill and Watson were the nominees. This is the first time since 1997 the men's soccer team has had anyone nominated for All-Academic honors.
Even though the season did not end as the Lobos had hoped, Rowland said they will use the loss and this season's losing record as fuel for upcoming seasons.
"Next year's going to be different," Rowland said. "We're going to come out and kill everybody. Just wait."
