Capitalizing off the momentum of an early UNLV red card, the New Mexico Men’s Soccer Team earned their first win of the season in a 3-0 victory over the Rebels in Albuquerque.
The first half started of slowly for the Lobos, as the Rebels had three quick shots before the Lobos could counter. However, the run of play quickly changed in the 17th minute when UNLV's Danny Musovski had a late tackle on UNM’s Billy Jones and was shown a straight red card and sent off, leaving UNLV a man down for the rest of the match.
From there, play quickly swung in favor of the Lobos. Two minutes later, Devin Boyce fed the ball to Sam Gleadle on the left side of the box. Gleadle quickly beat a defender and then the goalkeeper and slotted the ball into the right side of the goal to open the scoring.
The Lobos continued to put pressure on UNLV and controlled much of the possession. The team’s second goal came in the 38th minute, when substitute Nick Taylor took a pass from Aaron Herrera on the right side and rifled a shot into the back of the net from 25 yards out, extending the Lobos' lead to two goals. UNLV struggled to create any consistent pressure, with all of their chances after the red card coming on quick counter attacks. They managed two shots late in the half, but neither of them were on target.
Despite the final result, head coach Jeremy Fishbein didn't seem too happy with the team’s performance.
“It was good to get the first win of the season, we scored a couple nice goals,” Fishbein said. “Not completely thrilled with the overall performance in that I thought we were baited into play a game, an emotional game. (A) lot of errors that if you want to beat good teams you can’t make. We showed a little bit of youth and a little bit of lack of discipline."
The second half started with both sides keeping the ball in the midfield and neither side attacking with an intent to get on the scoresheet. Both sides matched each other's effort on goal in the first half; however, in the second half the Lobos had seven shots on target to the four of UNLV.
In the 78th minute of the game, UNM constructed a move on their right flank, which resulted in a UNM player being fouled in the box. A penalty kick was awarded, and UNM junior Antoine Vial converted it to make it 3-0 for the Lobos.
Having seen a red card early in the game set the stage for a fiery contest, players began standing up to each other throughout the game. UNM’s Devin Boyce received a yellow card while UNLV’s Kevin Partida and Danny Musovski received a yellow card and red card, respectively.
“It is great to have the first shutout of the season. We conceded too many goals last weekend, so it is good to come back and get a shutout at home, and hopefully, we are on a streak now to not concede any goals,” UNM goalkeeper Jason Beaulieu said.
It was UNM’s first shutout of the season and could be a springboard to building confidence for the team in its upcoming matches.
The Lobos have just three matches under their belt in the young season and will play next at Marquette on Sept. 4 at 6:05 p.m.
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Cameron Goeldner is a freelance sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger
Ajinkya Patil is a freelance sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ajinkyapatil_16
