The Lobos were eight seconds away from tying the No. 5 team in the country.
Instead, they walked away Wednesday night with a 2-1 loss to the Denver Pioneers, who remain undefeated and improve to a 13-0-2 record.
The loss is the third straight for the Lobos, all of which were on the road. The road has been rough for New Mexico with the team managing to record only one win out of seven matches played.
The Lobos still hold on to a winning record of 7-6 overall (1-3 Conference USA), but the next few games will be crucial to determine their fate.
The first half against the Pioneers didn’t see a lot of action. Each team recorded only two shots shots on goal and one corner kick.
But the second 45-minute period proved to be more dramatic.
Denver took a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute when sophomore Kenny Akamatsu sent a cross to redshirt senior Karsten Hanlin, who netted his fourth goal of the season from 15 yards out.
With regulation time winding down, New Mexico found the equalizer in the 89th minute.
Aaron Herrera took a shot from just outside the penalty area, but his shot was blocked by the Denver defense. The ball fell in the perfect spot for Nick Rochowski who recorded his second goal of the season with just 1:05 left, forcing the game into overtime.
Regulation time ended with the Lobos leading 8-5 in shots and 4-3 in corner kicks.
The first overtime period only saw two shots, one from each team, and it looked like things would end in a stalemate with the second period seeing about the same amount of action.
In the 107th minute, New Mexico’s Luke Lawrence almost found the game winner for his team. But Denver goalkeeper Nick Gardner picked that moment to make his only save of the entire night.
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Last Saturday during the FAU match, Lawrence scored two minutes before regulation time was over to launch the match into overtime.
Unfortunately for the Lobos, the result on Wednesday night was the exact same as the one on Saturday night, a 2-1 loss as Denver’s Andre Shinyashiki netted the game-winner when the clock read 109:52.
The night ended with the Lobos outshooting the Pioneers 11-7. The Pioneers had a slight 6-5 corner kick advantage. The Lobos had also managed to outshoot FAU — an unranked opponent — 21-8 in the previous match.
New Mexico was not able to break the Pioneers’ win streak, which now stands at six. However, Rochowski’s goal did break their four-game shutout streak.
The Lobos will be back at home this Saturday to resume conference play, hosting Marshall (6-8, 1-3 C-USA). The match could help the Lobos get their confidence back, as they are currently undefeated in Albuquerque with a 6-0 record.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
