The Missouri State Bears had gone 411 minutes and 26 seconds without allowing a goal. Friday night, the Lobos put a stop to that shutout streak in a 1-0 victory over Missouri State.
New Mexico (4-1-1) defeated MSU (1-2-2) 1-0 with a second-half goal during their first match of the TLC Plumbing & Utility Invitational.
Five minutes into the game MSU’s forward Conor Ingram took the first shot of the match. The ball was aimed correctly, but Lobo keeper Jason Beaulieu kept it out. The Bears got a corner kick off of it, but it didn’t result in much.
In the next four minutes, two more shots came from the Bears, but both attempts were too high.
In the 11th minute the Lobos began to get their own chances. Midfielder Josh Goss took a powerful shot that hit the post. Four minutes later, he tried again but this shot went straight to the Missouri State goalkeeper’s, Liam Priestley’s, hands.
During the 37th minute, the Lobos launched a series of attacks. First Goss sent a ball by Priestley. Then midfielder Chris Wehan took a shot that was blocked by the Bears’ defense. Not long after, forward Sam Gleadle had a chance, but his attempt went too wide to the left.
The first half ended with the Lobos leading 6-3 in shots and 2-1 in corner kicks.
UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said he noticed his team could have gotten the lead in the first half if the Lobos had finished a few of the good chances they had. But overall, he was happy with the performance.
“I think we kind of wore (the Bears) down a little bit. We saw a lot of the ball, they did a lot of the chasing,” he said.
The match was scoreless until the 64th minute when Niko Hansen scored his first goal of the season. Josh Goss sent a pass to Aaron Herrera, who sent a cross to Hansen.
During practically every game this season, Hansen had a lot of opportunities to score, but the ball was just not going in. Tonight was finally his night.
“It felt good, of course. It was an incredible team goal,” Hansen said. “We had been fighting the whole game, I knew we were going to get one. So it just felt good to put one in for the team.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Fishbein said he saw a lot of guys step up during this game, and that he thought it was great that Hansen finally got the goal he deserved.
“We were pretty disciplined. We didn’t give them many opportunities off set pieces,” Fishbein said. “It was a mature performance. It was closer than you’d like, but you are going to get those games, and like I said, I thought we showed a lot of maturity.”
Now, the Lobos will focus all their attention on the American University Eagles (6-1). Fishbein said he thinks the Eagles will provide a challenge, but that his team will be ready, as long as they keep the momentum going.
“It’s going to be a good game Sunday, against an excellent team. I think it’ll be a little bit more wide open as well. We are looking forward to that one.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @cisabelg
