The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team earned its first victory in Conference-USA by defeating Marshall 2-1 on Saturday night with a late-match goal.
UNM senior Sam Gleadle and junior Aaron Herrera both scored goals for the Lobos, but Gleadle notched the game-winner in the 82nd minute to break a 1-1 tie.
The match was the third of the C-USA schedule for the Lobos (5-3-1, 1-1-1 C-USA) and the victory over Marshall marked UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein’s 299th career victory.
“I’m really happy to get the win on the road,” Fishbein said in a release. “Marshall is very good at home, and they are a much improved team with some dynamic players. I think we controlled the game in the first half, but they made it difficult to create really good scoring chances. At halftime, we identified some things but made a fairly big mistake at the beginning of the second half, and you don’t want to be in that situation where you are chasing the game.”
All three goals of the match were scored in the second half, though things were tightly contested as the teams headed into halftime with the score tied at 0-0.
Marshall’s Brayan Lopez-Mendez opened the scoring when he tapped in the goal from five yards out on a cross by Lewis Knight. Knight, a freshman, has tallied 19 points on eight goals and three assists this season to lead the team.
The Lobos started attacking more in the second half to get back into the game, which opened chances for both teams to score.
The Lobos found the equalizer in the 66th minute when defender Herrera scored off a cross from defender Matt Constant.
Gleadle slotted the game winner, marking the second straight game he has scored in the waning minutes of the game.
Marshall outshot UNM 11-7 in the second half and 13-9 overall. The Lobos registered four shots on target, compared to five for Marshall. UNM goalkeeper Jason Beaulieu made four saves on the night to help lead the Lobos to the win.
“We’re going to enjoy this win, then recover properly,” Fishbein said in a release. “We’ll get home tomorrow night, head back on the road Tuesday and embrace our challenges. We’re looking forward to getting back home Oct. 7 against FAU.”
The Lobos will play Loyola Marymount for a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. After ending their stretch of away games, the Lobos will then play Florida Atlantic in Albuquerque on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
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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.
