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Despite netting a 2-1 victory, the UNM men’s soccer team’s first conference road trip didn’t go exactly as planned.
The Lobos’ match at Houston Baptist, originally scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m., was postponed due to inclement weather and an unplayable field. The match was moved to Awty International School in Houston on Sunday at 7 a.m.
The Lobos overcame the conditions in their 2-1 victory, and head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the team handled the venue change with ease.
“The whole trip was a real challenge. It was indecision right up until game time last night, and then we ended up playing at a different site on a different day,” he said. “I thought our guys responded to the adversity by playing well.”
New Mexico allowed the opening goal to the Huskies when junior Kristopher Tyrpak scored in the 15th minute off a rebound from freshman Thilo Borgmann. The goal broke UNM’s 195 minute shutout streak and it was only the second goal allowed by the Lobos in the past 385 minutes of play.
The Lobos (8-1-0, 1-0-0 MPSF) trailed for a majority of the contest until senior Nik Robson took an assist from senior Devon Sandoval and rifled it past Houston Baptist sophomore goalie Kevin Suarez for the equalizer in the 63rd minute.
In the 77th minute, sophomore James Rogers took advantage of senior Blake Smith’s pass for Rogers’ fourth goal of the year. The assist was Smith’s seventh of the season, and he is tied fourth nationally in assists.
Senior goalie Victor Rodriguez made a season-high four saves versus Houston Baptist.
Fishbein said the Lobos played well against the Huskies (2-5-0, 0-1-0 MPSF) considering the circumstances surrounding the game.
“We really only made one mistake, and they pounced on it to get the early goal. We knew after that it would be tough going against a team in a defensive shell that was up one goal,” he said. “We had to be really good attacking, and we got a wonderful goal from Nik Robson and another from James Rogers. We challenged ourselves a bit more than we needed to, but I thought it was a mature effort in dealing with the entire situation.”
New Mexico outshot Houston Baptist 16-8 and dominated in corner kicks 12-1.
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