Last week, the Lobos took some extra time toward the end of practice to work on penalty kicks — and it paid off in a big way Wednesday in the Conference USA Tournament.
The No. 5 seed Lobos (10-6-2, 4-3-1) battled through two overtime periods and 10 penalty kicks to take down the No. 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats (11-4-3, 5-3-0) during the first round of the 2016 Conference USA Championships.
As of Tuesday, Kentucky was listed in the NSCAA Coaches Poll as the No.19 team in the country.
When the two teams met earlier this season, the Wildcats took down the Lobos 1-0 after scoring a goal in the first five minutes of the match.
On Wednesday, it was ultimately redshirt freshman goalkeeper Ford Parker who allowed his team to walk away with a 2-1 PK advantage, and a ticket to the Friday semifinals, after making four out of five saves.
Kentucky again took an early lead when junior midfielder Landon Sauder scored in the 9th minutes. He took advantage of a corner kick and sent a header straight into the Lobo net off a Charlie Reymann assist.
The lead wouldn’t last for long, as New Mexico found the equalizer in the 13th minute. Forward Sam Gleadle, assisted by forward Niko Hansen, took a shot from the right inside of the box to bury the ball deep into the left side of the net.
The first half ended with the Lobos slightly edging the Wildcats, 4-3 in shots. The only corner kick of these first 45 minutes was the one that put Kentucky in the lead.
The second half didn’t see a goal until the 81st minute. Kentucky freshman midfielder Connor Probert, unassisted, gave his team what appeared to be the final lead of the night.
But exactly three minutes later, the Lobos received a free kick. Forward Sam Gleadle took it and the ball eventually found defender Nick Rochowski, who kept his team alive in the contest by heading in the equalizer.
Neither side scored the golden goal during the two overtime periods. There were a total of three shots, all during the second period. The Lobos recorded two of them.
Seniors Chris Gurule and Josh Goss found the net for the New Mexico, while junior Hampus Agerstrom was the only one to bury one for Kentucky.
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“We felt good going into this game,” UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said on the sideline during his postgame interview.
“We’ve been playing really well. Kentucky is a good matchup for us. I thought we played ok, we didn’t play great.” Fishbein continued. “The two goals they scored were kind of soft goals. But this team showed something.”
Junior goalkeeper Jason Beaulieu was on the net for most of the day, but Parker took over before penalty kicks began.
“We brought in Ford Parker off the bench, second-string goalie,” the head coach said. “He came in and did a fantastic job for us. Pretty proud of these guys, and really excited for the next one. “
The Lobos play the No. 1 seed Charlotte 49ers (12-2-2, 7-1-0) on Friday in the semifinals. Charlotte received a first-round bye and should be well rested for this match. The 49ers are currently No. 5 in the coaches poll, and the NCAA lists them as having an RPI of 10.
Earlier this season, the Lobos lost 2-1 to Charlotte. The match was very even, as each side recorded seven shots. New Mexico had five shots on target, while the 49ers had four.
If the Lobos are able to get the win, they’ll advance to the championship round and have a chance to hoist the trophy on Sunday.
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.
