The The No. 21 UNM men’s soccer team went 2-0 in its California road trip after taking down the No. 19 Loyola Marymount University Lions 2-1 on Sunday.
Up until this match, the Lions (5-1-0) were undefeated, and the LMU goalkeeper Paul Blanchette had only allowed two goals.
However, the Lobos (3-1-1) were not intimidated.
UNM began attacking early when midfielder Chris Wehan took a shot in the 9th minute, but Blanchette made the save. Two minutes later, midfielder Josh Goss took a stab at it but he sent the ball too high.
Only a couple minutes after that, the Lions began their own attacks with a shot by forward Grant Sampson. This one was too wide.
In the 15th minute, LMU attacked again, and this time, the effort paid off.
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Forward Alvaro Madrigal dribbled the ball on the right wing through the Lobo defense and then went on to beat keeper Jason Beaulieu with a shot to the far post. This was Madrigal’s third goal of the season.
"They got a goal off a tackle that maybe one out of 10 times bounces the way it did, and they took it really well to get their goal. But we defended really well all game,” UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said.
The first half ended with New Mexico leading 6-5 in shots but trailing 1-0 in goals.
Fishbein had said he wanted different guys to step up and score goals this season. And that’s exactly what defender Nicholas Rochowski did in the second half.
In the 75th minute, defender Chris Gurule sent in a low shot from the right side. The ball deflected off the post and went straight to Rochowski who tied the game at 1-1.
"It was nice for someone other than Wehan to get that first one," Fishbein said.
The Lobos kept the momentum going and two minutes later, a foul on LMU gave New Mexico a 30-yard free kick. Wehan took the shot and put his team in a 2-1 lead. That was his sixth goal of the season, and until this game, he was the only Lobo who had scored a goal.
Seconds before the match was over, LMU’s midfielder Greg Antognoli sent a bicycle kick that could have easily tied the game. But Beaulieu knocked it away, allowing the Lobos to leave with a win.
By the end of the match, Beaulieu had recorded five saves, while Blanchette recorded two.
"We played really well again," Fishbein said. “There's a great spirit to the group, and it's exciting to be a part of it."
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @cisabelg.
