The UNM men's soccer team wasn't about to let an underachieving Stanford steal a win on Friday.
The Lobos beat the Cardinals 2-1 at the UNM Soccer Complex.
With the win, UNM improved to 7-5-2 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain Pacific Soccer Federation.
Stanford, which came into the game winning only one match in its last eight games, fell to 3-8-2 overall and 1-3-1 in the Pac-10.
Junior Justin Davis said UNM needed to win against the Cardinals.
"(Stanford) is a pretty big name," he said. "It's good to get a win in front of a good crowd, and hopefully it means that we will get back on a winning note."
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Clearly hungry for a victory, the Cardinals gave the Lobos all they could handle for 90 minutes.
With the game tied 1-1 at the half, UNM goalkeeper Eric Staver made back-to-back saves during an offensive push by the Cardinals.
The stops were huge for the Lobos and made possible a game-winning goal by Davis.
In the 82nd minute, Davis took a pass from teammate Michael Green and banged in a ball that hit the right corner of the crossbar to put the Lobos up 2-1.
"I wish I knew what happened," Davis said. "It happened so fast. Green flicked a great ball through, and their defender misplayed it, and somehow I put it off the crossbar. It was a good play."
The Lobos came out flat to start the game, and Stanford took the lead early with an unassisted goal by Tom Montgomery in the 29th minute.
UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said his team played soft early in the game.
"There was a little segment (where) we are just kind of fragile," Fishbein said. "We gave up a goal quick and kind of flipped out a little bit."
UNM responded with a goal in the 34th minute off a scissor kick by P.J. Wilson to tie the game at 1-1.
In the final seven minutes of the game, with the Lobos up 2-1, UNM suffocated Stanford's offensive attack, not affording the Cardinals an opportunity to tie the game.
Staver finished the game with six saves, and the Lobos had a total of 14 shots on goal.
"We had some great goals," Fishbein said. "We had some key guys out for this game with Simon Ejdemyr and David Murphy, but it is always good to get a win."
