The view is a lot clearer from the top.
The UNM men's soccer team found that out Thursday night when they took down the Denver Pioneers, 4-1.
The win was sweet redemption for UNM. The Pioneers handed the Lobos their first loss of the season, 2-1.
With the win, the Lobos improve to 12-1-1 and 6-1-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, good enough to keep first place in the conference.
"It was a huge win for us," UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. "We felt like we got the better of them up in Denver, but we didn't get the result. It's great, because we felt like we were a much better team when we played them earlier, too."
The Lobos took no time showing the Pioneers that a repeat of the Oct. 17 game was out of the question.
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In the 14th minute, Denver defender Mike Seager botched a kick to clear the ball out of the penalty box. On a pass from Patrick Grange, midfielder Lance Watson threw his foot behind the ball to score the first goal of the game.
The Lobos struck again seven minutes later, when left defender Matt Wootton bobbed and weaved his way through three Denver defenders.
After Wootton's nifty dribbling freed him for two shots Denver goalkeeper Matt Bredehoft saved, Jeff Rowland finally blasted the ball in the back of the net for his nation-leading 16th goal of the season.
The two early goals would coat the Lobos' redemption with even more sugar.
Denver scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of the Oct. 17 game, and the Lobos couldn't come back.
"That win is big for our confidence, especially since they were right behind us (in the MPSF)," Grange said. "We are in control of what goes on in conference now."
The win takes some of the pressure off the Lobos as the conference season winds down. Denver was nipping at the Lobos' heels before Thursday. They were in second place by only one point, and if the two teams had tied, the Pioneers would have come in first due to their advantage head to head.
However, Pioneer hopes of a comeback crumbled in the 21st minute when Watson ended up returning the favor to Grange on a pass from the left side that snaked its way through the Denver defense. Grange took the ball from five yards out, cocked back and fired a shot off the post that bounced into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the year.
Even Lobo goalkeeper Andrew Weber got on the scoreboard when one of his goal kicks found its way to Rowland. Rowland passed the ball to an attacking Blake Danaher who had snuck his way behind the defense. Danaher beat second-half substitute goalkeeper Justin Durst to the ball and placed it around the flailing goalkeeper for his fifth goal of the season.
The Pioneers would snare a goal of their own before the game was done, when Alejandro Diaz chipped a ball over backup Lobo goalkeeper Michael Graczyk.
The Lobos have the comfort of their home field for one more game when they take on the Air Force Falcons on Sunday at 1 p.m.
