The UNM men's soccer team outplayed the Air Force Academy for much of the game, but two early mistakes resulted in a 2-1 Lobo loss at the UNM Soccer Complex Sunday.
Although the Lobos (3-5-1) controlled much of the play and created many scoring chances, they could not overcome goals scored early in the first half.
"It's a learning experience that we have to come out and take teams on," UNM senior forward Ty Hibbert said. "I think we dominated but we just couldn't finish the scoring opportunities."
The Falcons used a quick passing game to generate numerous scoring opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the game. Air Force got close to scoring several times before breaking through only nine minutes into the game.
The Falcons' Marcus Sagastume received a loose ball off of a corner kick seven yards out, found himself open and hammered the ball into the goal. Air Force tacked on another goal just eight minutes later on a mistake by the Lobos.
UNM could not sufficiently clear a ball, allowing the Falcons' Noah Merica-Jones to gather the clearing pass with no pressure. Merica-Jones took a couple of dribbles and fired a shot just inside the 18-yard box into the goal.
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"I just think we didn't come out focused for the first 20 minutes," Hibbert said. "We woke up after that, but we just couldn't get past the 20 and get some goals in."
The second goal seemed to awaken the Lobos, and they started playing more aggressively. UNM controlled the ball more and made its own quick passes to generate offensive opportunities. The attacking style paid off in the 26th minute when the Lobos earned a free kick about 30 yards from goal. Sophomore midfielder William Junot took the free kick and blasted a shot that beat Air Force goalkeeper Michael Brophy, but it hit the cross bar. The ball bounced down and seemed to have passed the goal line, but no call was made.
It did not matter because after junior forward Gamal Douglas missed his rebound opportunity, junior midfielder Javier Carrasco rushed in and finished the play with a goal. The goal was Carrasco's first of the season and it cut the lead to 2-1.
UNM used the goal to gain momentum and put more pressure on the Falcons. Numerous attempts on goal could not find the target and the Lobos went into halftime trailing.
The Lobos again came out flat early in the second half, allowing Air Force several easy scoring chances.
However, freshman goalkeeper Andrew Weber, who finished with eight saves, scrambled to snuff out the attempts.
UNM began to attack furiously in the last 25 minutes of the game and dominated the Falcons. Junior midfielder Junro Narita and Hibbert led the attacks, creating a couple of chances to score.
However, the Lobos could not find the back of the net to tie up the score.
"I think we played well, just the thing is when we were in close scoring range either our last pass or our last finish was off," head coach Klaus Weber said. "We had our chances offensively, especially late in the first half and for most of the second."
UNM was outshot 29-16, but the Lobos created more chances in the second half, outshooting the Falcons 11-10.
Friday, the Lobos recovered from a 1-0 halftime deficit to score two second half goals and beat Fort Lewis College 2-1 in their first home game of the season. Hibbert scored on a penalty kick in the 73rd minute to tie the score. Junot would get the game-winning goal for the Lobos four minutes later on a break away.
