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Air Force handed UNM its only two soccer losses in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play this year. The Lobos get another crack at the Falcons on Sunday.
No. 1 seed UNM advanced to Sunday’s MPSF tournament championship with a 3-0 victory over No. 4 Denver University on Friday night. Earlier in the day, No. 3 Air Force captured a 2-1 double-overtime decision over No. 2 Cal State Bakersfield.
The MPSF championship will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday at the UNM Soccer Complex. The Lobos will vie for their second consecutive MPSF title and their third overall before departing to Conference USA next season.
“We’re coming off six straight shutouts, and we just really wanted to continue that into the playoffs,” UNM freshmen midfielder Ben McKendry said. “Going into the final, we have some unfinished business against Air Force.”
In the regular season, Air Force captured a 1-0 overtime victory over UNM in Albuquerque on Oct. 5. One week later at the academy, located near Colorado Springs, Colo., the Falcons claimed a 2-1 win.
UNM (16-3-0) responded from those losses with six straight shutout victories to close out the season. The Lobos scored 25 goals during that stretch.
Air Force (10-8-3), meanwhile, had two wins, two losses and two ties over its final six regular-season game. The Falcons defeated UNLV 4-1 in the MPSF’s first round before their win over Bakersfield put them in the finale.
“It’s not really about revenge as much as it’s about us,” said head coach Jeremy Fishbein, who became UNM’s winningest coach with 153 victories. “We’ve got to continue to be good on the ball. Our pressure needs to be good. We have to take our chances.”
Against Denver, McKendry posted his first two-goal game of his career. His first score came 21 minutes, 29 seconds into the contest.
Senior midfielder Nik Robson fired a crossing pass from the right side at the net. A Denver defender blocked Robson’s attempt, but McKendry shot the rebound past the Pioneer sophomore goalkeeper Oliver Brown and into the net.
McKendry struck again about eight minutes later, taking an assist from senior forward Levi Rossi. McKendry hopped and got his boot on the ball at point-blank range for his sixth goal of the season.
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After his second goal, McKendry leapt over the barricade on the south side of the stadium and celebrated with fans.
“It was just a spur of the moment thing,” he said. “I like to acknowledge the crowd and give them all high-fives. It was exciting.”
Rossi added a goal of his own at the 53:53 mark, scoring on a penalty kick.
In Friday’s early semifinal, Air Force battled from a 1-0 first-half deficit to Bakersfield. Senior midfielder Patrick Compton scored the equalizer from 25 yards out off a sophomore defender Scott McGillivray assist at the 72:31 mark.
In the second overtime, junior forward Brian Klazura fired the go-ahead goal off a one-touch shot from senior forward Conor Henry.
Junior forward Gyasi Zardes had CSUB’s goal at 38:44 on an assist by sophomore midfielder David Velasquez.
Air Force senior goalkeeper Matt Underwood made five saves, while CSUB senior keeper Eric Shannon had four saves.
