It was a tale of two halves for the University of New Mexico Men’s Soccer team (3-7-0, 1-2-0 C-USA) on Saturday against Florida International University (4-5-0, 3-0-0 C-USA), as three second half goals for the Panthers resulted in a 4-2 win for FIU.
“Pretty disappointing,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “Made a mistake and gave up an early goal. (We) came back and I thought we closed out the first half really well with two goals and had a good grip on the game. We talked at halftime that the first ten minutes was crucial and that that was going to be their opportunity to get momentum back…You’re not going to win games when you give up goals in those key moments.”
The Panthers struck first, after a foul in the box from the Lobo defense gave Santiago Patino the opportunity to slot home a penalty against Lobo goalkeeper Ford Parker, who started in place of Alex Fetterly after Fetterly suffered a shoulder injury against St. Mary’s on Wednesday.
New Mexico was able to answer just two minutes later as Tom Smart played a ball in to Simon Spangenberg and FIU keeper Daniel Gagliardi came out to try and stop the run, but Spangenberg was able to beat him and hit a slow roller from the left that rolled into the bottom right corner and even the game.
The Lobos took the lead in the 29th minute, off of a corner kick. Nick Taylor took the corner and put it into the box. After a deflection from Billy Jones, Matt Puig was able to bury the ball in the bottom right and move the scoreline to 2-1.
The first half was very even, which both teams recording seven total shots with three on goal. For the most part, the Lobos were able to keep the two offensive weapons for FIU in check and limit their chances as Parker held strong in the back, saving all three shots on goal.
However, things changed drastically in the opening minute of the second half as set pieces came back to haunt UNM once again as Andrew Booth headed in a corner kick to tie up the game at two.
Four minutes later, the Panthers took the lead for good after Talla Faye found himself in the right place at the right time to finish after FIU’s first shot took a deflection. Less than five minutes into the second half, the Lobos saw their 2-1 lead turned into a 3-2 deficit and suddenly they were scrambling for an answer.
The Lobos were able to put pressure on the FIU defense, but struggled to generate chances from inside the 18-yard box that forced Gagliardi to make difficult saves. They had the opportunities to equalize, and seemed to be closing in on a goal before Patino scored his second of the night with five minutes left off of a defensive mistake to seal the victory.
According to Fishbein, the Lobos struggled with concentration and focus and he said that his team lacked maturity and discipline in its play, and described Patino as “a man amongst boys” against the UNM defenders.
The Lobos will return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. against Loyola Marymount in the final non-conference game of the season.
Cameron Goeldner is a sports beat reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, women’s basketball, softball and the Albuquerque Isotopes, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter
@goeldfinger.
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