Michael Green showed Lobo fans what’s left in the tank for the UNM men’s soccer team next year.
Green, a sophomore, showed the Lobos won’t be without talent next season, even though UNM is losing five seniors, all of whom played their last home game on Saturday during Senior Night at the UNM Soccer Complex.
Two goals from Green propelled the UNM men’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory over UNLV.
Beating UNLV guarantees the Lobos a second-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation behind Sacramento State and earned them a bye game at the conference tournament next week. UNM finished the regular season 11-6-0 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
“This win was really important,” said head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “We now have the opportunity to rest a few days longer after a long season.”
The scoring started in the third minute as Green was found in the box after a long throw from midfielder Stephen Brown. Green collected the ball and put it past the goalie.
“That early goal was huge,” Fishbein said. “We were really tired after a long season but expected to win. UNLV is a good team to play against, and the early goal really got us going.”
In the 27th minute, Justin Davis came close to scoring after his 30-yard shot hit the crossbar. Saturday’s game was Davis’s last career regular-season game at home.
“It was a pretty emotional game,” Davis said. “It was good walking on the field with my family before the game, but this win was huge because we get a game off.”
In the 43rd minute, senior Euan Holden had a long run from the back that led to a shot by Patrick Pacheco, which narrowly missed the goal.
The second half was much the same for the Lobos, yet they looked comfortable with the lead.
“UNLV really did not look to connect any passes,” Fishbein said. “They were just disrupting play and looked to pick up seconds.”
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In the 67th minute, Green wrapped the game up after a flick from Davis sent him on a
breakaway where he coolly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper.
Four of Green’s five goals this season have come from two Saturday night home games.
“I just guess I am really feeling it on Saturday’s,” Green said. “It was a big conference win for us.”
UNM’s defense finished up the game strongly, helping redshirt freshman Justin Holmes record his first career shutout.
“We played well for about 20 minutes in the first half, but I felt like we played an excellent second half,” Fishbein said. “We were able to get into a rhythm, and we did some really good stuff.”
