assistantsports@dailylobo.com
@JROppenheim
Coach Jeremy Fishbein said his New Mexico men’s soccer team plays like a confident group right now. Completing a strong inaugural season in the tough Conference USA can do that.
That confidence showed through in the NCAA soccer tournament’s second round on Sunday. Though the Lobos let George Mason hang around for a while, senior forward James Rogers scored a late game-winner for a 1-0 victory over the Patriots.
UNM advanced to the NCAA tournament’s third round. The win puts the Lobos into the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 for the third straight year, and its fifth trip since 2005.
The Lobos host either Penn State or UC Santa Barbara next Sunday at the UNM Soccer Complex.
“We’re really battle-tested this year,” Fishbein said. “I think we all felt much different coming the NCAA tournament this year than we have in the past coming out of conference play, where we played such quality teams. We felt really prepared.”
Fishbein said his team entered this year’s national tournament with a different mentality than it had in the past. Completing its inaugural run in the tough Conference USA contributed to a high level of play UNM hadn’t experienced as a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team. The league, boasting a high RPI all season, put three teams in the tournament.
That confidence showed on the offensive end, as the Lobos played often in its own attacking half. They took 19 shots, including six on goal, while George Mason only shot six times with two on goal.
However, missed opportunities and not putting teams away are problems that plagued UNM this season, especially in the nonconference slate. This time, those issued didn’t come back to bite the Lobos.
The teams played scoreless soccer through 82 minutes until the Lobos broke through. Rogers passed the ball to Niko Hansen on the play, who returned it to Rogers through GMU defensive traffic for the deciding goal. Rogers made a diving shot to record his seventh goal this season.
During the celebration after the goal, UNM gathered around the corner flag on the near side and it broke. Rogers received a yellow-card warning as a result.
About five minutes after the go-ahead goal, both teams exchanged near misses in close succession. George Mason’s Brice Colcombe took a shot at UNM’s net that goalkeeper Michael Lisch saved with a diving effort. One minute later, Christopher Wehan had an open shot from the close left wing but it ricocheted off the post.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The Lobo freshman took one more shot in the final minute that was blocked by a defender.
Seven different Lobos attempted shots, led by Ben McKendry’s six and Wehan’s five. George Mason goalkeeper Steffen Kraus made five saves.
“We’ve been a pretty good defensive team all year. That’s been our backbone,” George Mason coach Greg Andrulis said. “We knew they were very dynamic, great on the break, and we matched up in some respects. Obviously they got the goal on the break and caught us.”
Fishbein said it was good to get a game like this under his team’s belt moving forward.
“We were fortunate that we didn’t allow them to do that,” he said. “We defended real well. I was happy with aspects of our play. I didn’t think we were as good as we could have been.”
