After an intense penalty kick session in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Lobos are ready for another challenge on Sunday in round two.
The Lobos grinded out a win, outscoring Portland 6-5 in penalty kicks to advance after inserted Parker Ford between the posts to save kicks.
New Mexico (12-6-3) will travel to Washington (13-6) to play the 11th-seeded Huskies on Sunday evening.
The two teams faced off against each other during preseason exhibitions. The Lobos took a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal by senior forward Niko Hansen in the 6th minute.
New Mexico held Washington to only five shots, one on goal. The Lobos more than tripled the amount of shots that the Huskies managed with 18, seven on goal. Although happy with the result, head coach Jeremy Fishbein said he thought his team could’ve been a little sharper finishing in the attacking third.
The head coach said the same thing was missing in Thursday’s match against Portland. The Lobos outshot the Pilots 18-5, but the match still endured two overtime periods and penalty kicks before New Mexico could find the win.
Fishbein said that he thinks his players are more than capable of getting another win against the Huskies if they focus and are not afraid to take chances.
Despite the exhibition loss, Washington went on to have a successful 2016 season finishing with a 13-6-0 overall record. The Huskies are nationally ranked (No. 14) and earned a bye week in the first round of the NCAA tournament as one of the top 12 seeds.
However, the team is coming off back-to-back 1-0 loses. The Lobos, on the other hand, haven’t seen a lost in their last eight matches.
New Mexico experienced the pain of close losses earlier this season. All six losses were by a margin of one, and in half of those games the Lobos only surrendered a single goal.
Two of the Lobo losses occurred in double overtime as well. But the Lobos seem to have figured out how to close out games late, and those experiences, coupled with two wins in penalty kicks, could come in handy if the match is close.
The teams are close statistically. The Huskies have scored a total of 30 goals so far and only allowed 17. The Lobos have allowed opponents the same amount of goals, but their offense has found the net three more times. Hansen leads New Mexico with 13 goals, which is tied for No. 8 for the most in the nation.
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Fishbein said Sunday will be a good one, especially because Washington has special ties to New Mexico.
“Their head coach was an assistant coach here for four years,” he said. “Their first assistant was a two-time All-American here. He’s a local guy, Jeff Rowland. So it will be an emotional game but it’s a good game for us.”
If the Lobos win on Sunday, they will play the winner of UNLV-Denver as their potential third round opponent.
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.
