by Rob Jenkins
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's soccer team remained undefeated at home, sweeping a pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation games this weekend.
UNM 5, Air Force 1
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The Lobos finally got some sweet revenge Friday night as they took on the Air Force Academy Falcons to open up Homecoming weekend.
Scoring goals and stopping opponents' opportunities both contributed to a successful 5-1 victory over the Falcons. This game marked the first time since 1995 that the Lobos have beaten Air Force and leaves UNM at 12-2-0 overall with an undefeated 2-0 record in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
Senior midfielder and team captain Junro Narita realized the importance of this conference victory.
"This was a conference game so it's huge," Narita said. "We didn't win any conference games last year, so it's great. We just have to keep going. It was great that we scored in the first 10 minutes, that was huge. It got us going so we had the momentum. This is a great situation, we're ready to go."
Ready to go indeed, as the scores would come swiftly and often. Interestingly, on this senior night, seniors (and captains) Javier Carrasco and Narita scored the first two goals of the game.
The first goal came in the fifth minute when Carrasco capitalized on a cross from Narita.
The second goal came 34 minutes later as Narita scored an unassisted goal off a direct kick. With time in the first half dwindling, the Lobos struck again. This time it was freshman forward Jeff Rowland scoring off a rebounded shot from five yards out.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Lobos were not content with a three-goal lead and just 13 minutes into the second half the scoring commenced.
This time the strike came from sophomore forward Eric Carlson off an assist from freshman forward Sam Suflita. Just three minutes later, freshman midfielder Ryan McVay would seal the deal and make it five unanswered goals for UNM.
Air Force did strike back in the second half, however, when Daniel Wasson scored. But it was too little, too late.
For many returning players the end of the game marked a triumph. The first time the Lobos have beaten the Falcons in recent years and Carrasco was one of the first players to savor the flavor.
"It is so much sweeter to win on homecoming especially since it's Air Force," he said. "They have beaten us since 1995. They've beaten me every year that I've been here, so it's great to come out here in front of all these fans and get a victory.
"Different people are coming through for us, scoring goals, and it's just so nice that everything seems to be coming together at this time of year, it's great."
Head coach Jeremy Fishbien agreed and also saw the win as a tremendous success and an indicator that the Lobos are right where they need to be in the thick of conference play.
"We came out to play," he said. "We hit two big goals early on. It's kind of fitting that it is senior night and two huge goals came from those seniors. We played great tonight. We're peaking at the right time."
UNM 1, Denver 0
Sunday, UNM completed its perfect weekend by beating the University of Denver, 1-0.
Freshman Ben Ashwill scored the lone goal of the game in the fourth minute on a one-on-one opprtunity after receving a pass from Junro Narita. UNM goalkeeper Andrew Weber made 10 saves and earned his fifth shutout of the year.
The Lobos continue MPSF play this week traveling to Sacramento State University on Friday and league-leading San Jose State University on Sunday.
