A windsock could have been handy for the UNM men's soccer team in the Lobos' first home game of their six-game spring schedule.
UNM played twice on Saturday, getting in some reps against Colorado State-Pueblo later in the day.
But in the first game against Fort Lewis on Saturday, it was hard to tell which team would benefit most from the blustery conditions at Robertson Field.
On one play, the 45 mph gusts couldn't stop forward P.J. Wilson. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native scored the first goal in the Lobos' 2-1 victory over Fort Lewis.
"It was very difficult," Wilson said. "We usually have the indoor facility to play in. Unfortunately, the football team is practicing in there today."
But Wilson was in the right place at the right time.
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Lobo goalkeeper Justin Fite quickly ended one of the few offensive threats by Fort Lewis, instead turning it into an opportunity for the Lobos. From the goal box, Fite - with the help from the wind gusts - aired the ball downfield to Wilson, who broke free behind the Skyhawks' defenders.
Wilson swiftly grabbed the pass and maneuvered around two Fort Lewis defenders to find himself alone inside the Skyhawks' goalie box.
Wilson tapped the ball easily behind Fort Lewis' goalkeeper Zane Wells. The score put the Lobos up 1-0.
"It was just an odd thing, really," Wilson said. "(Fite) just flicked (the ball) on off a header, and it went through the wind. I don't know. I just ran onto it and just chipped it over the goalie."
Early in the first half, UNM's Justin Davis missed a wide-open shot on net that sprung off the left post of the goal and out of bounds.
After scoring his first goal, Wilson came close to putting up another goal. After being the beneficiary of a Fort Lewis penalty, he missed a penalty shot that violently bounced off the top of the goal post above Wells' head.
As the winds died down in the second half, so did the defense.
Davis was injured midway through the second half. He was tripped up in front of Fort Lewis' goal, and the Lobos were awarded a penalty kick. He sat out the remainder of the game. Simon Ejdemyr would take the penalty kick. The shot glided past Wells, putting the Lobos up 2-0.
A late goal by Fort Lewis cut the lead to one.
"We get a lot of fitness in, and that is the biggest thing for us right now," Wilson said.
Up Next: Men's soccer at UC-Santa Barbara
Friday, 7 p.m.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
