Just 16 seconds into UNM’s non-conference match against West Virginia, a red card was issued to the Mountaineers, allowing midfielder Ben McKendry to take a penalty kick that gave the Lobos an early 1-0 lead.
That was just the beginning of UNM’s scoring barrage in a 6-1 win over WVU Wednesday night at the UNM Soccer Complex.
The six goals were the most that the No. 15 Lobos have scored this season.
“For the last three days, we’ve been on edge to get this game started,” said midfielder Christopher Wehan. “When it did get started, it couldn’t have gone any better.”
With the red card handed down, West Virginia found itself at a disadvantage early in the contest and UNM capitalized.
In the 18th minute, the Mountaineers tied the game, but five minutes later, midfielder/forward Niko Hansen put the Lobos back ahead with an assist from Wehan.
The next two goals came from Wehan in the 35th minute and forward Kevin Correa in the 38th minute. It was Correa’s first goal as a Lobo.
The Lobos didn’t back down in the second half as they added two more goals. Defender Riley McGovern hit the back of the net in the 63rd minute, and McKendry scored his second goal two minutes later for the final 6-1 score. McKendry’s goals were his first two of the season.
“Was the score truly indicative of how the game was played? We were a man up ... ” Fishbein said. “And you never wish that on anybody because we could be on the other foot. But I thought we took advantage of things. We did a lot of things really well.”
Fishbein described his team’s win as an important one and said the team is ready for their conference match against the Florida International Panthers on Saturday.
FIU (3-4-1, 0-1-0) is coming off a 3-2 loss against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The Panthers had a strong first half, leading with one goal and outshooting the UAB Blazers 11-5. But things turned around after intermission.
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The Blazers outshot the Panthers 9-5 in the second half. The teams were tied 2-2 until UAB hit the winning goal with only 20 seconds remaining.
The pressure will be on both teams Saturday night as both the will be looking for their first C-USA win of the season.
“This was an important one to get under our belt, “Fishbein said. “We’ve even more excited for (our next match on) Saturday. Florida International is a quality team that we have here at home. It’s a conference game ... We’re excited to move forward.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
