by Tony Niklinski
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's and women's soccer teams exited Sunday with solid performances, but different outcomes.
The Lobo men opened Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a win over San Diego State University while the women salvaged its weekend Mountain West Conference set with a tie versus the nationally ranked University of Utah.
UNM 0, Utah 0 (2OT)
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The Lobo women tied the 25th-ranked Utes in double overtime 0-0 Sunday afternoon at the UNM soccer complex.
UNM was on the verge of pulling off an upset this weekend. Instead, they had to settle for a double overtime tie. The Lobos had nothing to lose and everything to gain from this game, considering they were underdogs.
"This was a moral victory," said head coach Kit Vela. "We played very hard this afternoon."
With the tie, the Lobos are now 9-6-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the MWC, good for third place.
The Lobo's defense held the Utes in check all game. A lot of that had to do with sophomore standout Kristen Winters. With the help of her teammates, the goalkeeper recorded five saves -- four of them coming in the second half.
Winters and the UNM defense have recorded three shutouts in its last four games.
"We take pride in our defense," Winters said. "Other teams recognize that we are very strong and deep defensively."
Shutting down the Utes should give the lobos some confidence going into next week's conference battle against the Air Force Academy. The Falcons are 5-10 overall and 0-3 in the MWC, including a 3-1 loss to Utah.
The Lobos will play host to the AFA next Friday at the UNM Soccer Complex at 5 p.m.
UNM 2, SDSU 1
The UNM men handed San Diego State its eighth loss of the season Sunday, with a 2-1 victory at the UNM Soccer Complex.
With the victory the Lobos improved to 11-2-0 and 1-0-0 in the MPSF.
In the first half the Aztecs caught some lucky breaks as the Lobos missed a couple of easy shots, and went into the half with a scoreless tie. The second half was a different story.
Senior midfielder Junro Narita scored his third goal of the year in the 49th minute. Narita's third goal of the year came unassisted as he kicked the ball right past senior goalkeeper Brian Barnes. Narita's goal gave the Lobos the lead and they never looked back from that point on.
Freshman Lance Watson and Junior Stian Eriksen later teamed up to set up freshmen sensation Ben Ashwill for his ninth goal of the season in the 84th minute. Had they kept their aggressive edge, the Lobos would have had a potential shutout.
San Diego State responded with a lucky rebound goal from sophomore midfielder Eric Wohl in the 89th minute.
"After the second goal we thought the game was over," Ashwill said. "We kind of let our guard down and relaxed too much."
That's when the Aztecs scored, but their lone goal was not enough as the Lobos prevailed to victory.
With the win, the Lobos extended their streak of six wins in a row at home this year.
The Lobos take on Air Force next Friday. AFA is 7-6-1 and 2-1 in the MWC.
With the men and women playing exceptionally well at this point in the season, look for a program sweep against the Falcons on Friday. Game time for the women's game is at 5 p.m. and the men get underway at 7 p.m.
