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New Mexico midfielder Niko Hansen attacks the ball during the game against Missouri State on Sunday. The Lobos defeated the Bears 2-0.

New Mexico midfielder Niko Hansen attacks the ball during the game against Missouri State on Sunday. The Lobos defeated the Bears 2-0.

Soccer: Lobos blow Bears away despite high winds

This was the fourth straight win for the Lobos, who also won last week’s road game 2-0 against Florida Atlantic University.

“We talked about the importance of this (four-game stretch), and we took care of business and won all four,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “I think that’s the mark of a quality team.”

It was a chilly night with gusts of high wind — one of the most difficult conditions for a soccer game. Although the ball was sometimes deviated by the wind, both teams played through it.

The Bears (6-4-2) are known for their defensive playing style, which showed in the first half. The Lobos outshot the Bears 7-1, but the ball never found the back of the net.

That changed in the second half.

The Missouri State defense remained strong after intermission, but the Lobos began to find openings as they kept firing.

The match was scoreless until senior defender/midfielder Oniel Fisher put the Lobos in the lead with a goal in the 73rd minute. Redshirt junior midfielder Josh Dye passed the ball to redshirt senior defender Riley McGovern, who then found Oniel.

“It was a great slip ball by Riley into me,” Fisher said. “It was all on Riley. I just lifted my head up, put it on target and it went in.”

After the first goal, the Lobos kept on pressing. In the 84th minute redshirt sophomore midfielder Christopher Wehan scored the second goal of the match thanks to an assist by junior midfielder Ben McKendry.

“Oniel Fisher, nice goal,” Fishbein said. “We stayed good, we kept the rhythm of the game high. We connected our passes, we were really mature. And [it was] a great second goal by Chris Wehan.”

The Lobos outshot Missouri 11-1 and freshman UNM goalie Jason Beaulieu did not have to make a save throughout the game. This was Beaulieu’s fifth clean sheet of the season, which is the UNM freshman record.

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“We did a good job defensively,” Fishbein said. “I think (goalkeeper coach) Savva Biller did a good job preparing the keeper with how to tactically deal with the wind, and I think we did very well in terms of that.”

Fishbein said he was happy with his team’s performance last night and said it was just a matter of “staying the course.”

“(Missouri State) was a team that was going to try and score either in transition or off a set piece,” Fishbein said. “That’s what we were prepared for. We were good on the ball, we were patient and we didn’t give them any openings.”

UNM (9-2-1) will go be on the road this weekend to face the Kentucky Wildcats.

Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.

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