Michael Green, the UNM men’s soccer team’s forward, put on a clinic against Cal State Northridge in front of a season-high 3,250 fans Saturday at the UNM Soccer Complex.
Green’s man-of-the-match performance guided the Lobos to a 2-0 win. He had both goals for UNM, helping UNM tally its sixth win. The Lobos are now 6-3-0 overall.
The Lobos pressured the Matadors early, and it did not take long for Green to find a breakthrough. Ten minutes into the game, Green was open at the top of the box and took a pass from defender Ryan Farquharson.
Unleashing an unstoppable, near-perfect shot, Green’s 22-yarder sailed into the top corner of the far post and gave the Lobos a 1-0 lead.
“I am used to passing in those situations,” Green said. “But I just decided to hit it this time, and I am glad I did. I am happy I helped the team win. We all played really well today, and it was a good game to win.”
Then, in the 85th minute, Green amazed the crowd again, outracing the goalkeeper to a long pass before touching it around him. With teammates surrounding him on the break, Green looked to get another assist, but instead he put the ball between the keeper’s legs, right into the open net.
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said Green’s goals were a thing of beauty.
“He scored some special goals tonight,” Fishbein said. “This game today really played into Green’s strengths. He had a lot of space in the middle to do things with the ball.”
The Lobos, who wore pink jerseys in support of breast-cancer awareness, came out in the second half looking to keep Cal State Northridge off the board.
The Lobos sat back and absorbed the pressure from the Matadors. The Lobos could have put the game out of reach, but forward Justin Davis and midfielder Stephen Brown failed to capitalize on good goal-scoring opportunities, Fishbein said.
“We could have been up 2- or 3-0 in the first half,” Fishbein said. “But we let them stay in the game.”
Either way, Brown said UNM didn’t want to let the Matadors get an easy goal.
“We played smart today, with a lot of confidence that you get playing at home,” he said.
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