The UNM men’s soccer team got its first win of the season Sunday night after defeating No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 2-1.
This win was made possible thanks to redshirt junior midfielder Christopher Wehan’s second brace of the weekend.
The first half of the match was even in shots, with six coming from each side. But the Gauchos took a 1-0 lead during the 23rd minute when sophomore forward Ahinga Selemani struck from about 22 yards away.
After this goal, the Lobos began attacking more and managed five corner kicks in the next 10 minutes.
“[The Gauchos] were good in the first half,” Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “But then I think we kind of sorted things out and we realized it’s not going to always be on our terms. Sometimes you are going to have to battle.”
The Lobos came back strong during the second half, getting on the scoreboard in the 66th minute after junior midfielder Josh Goss sent a through ball that found Wehan in the box.
The Lobos continued to pressure UCSB’s defense. In the 69th minute, junior forward Niko Hansen took a shot from inside the box, but the ball went slightly wide.
New Mexico (1-1-1) was looking for a win, not a tie, so the players kept pressuring, and with less than four minutes remaining, they got the much-needed second goal.
Redshirt freshman midfielder Matt Dorsey won a long ball and sent Wehan a header. Wehan dribbled the ball toward the center of the box and found the back of the net.
“We’d been close on those [headers] the last couple of games,” Wehan said. “I took a chance because Dorsey is incredible in the air. All credit to him winning that header. It fell in the right place, and I just saw it and took my chance.”
Wehan said he was proud of his team’s perseverance, and their performance during the second half was a lot stronger that Friday’s.
“We didn’t let Santa Barbara come on to us,” he said. “They didn’t see much of the ball, they didn’t see many chances during the second half. I think that was the biggest thing. We were on them. We were playing hard.”
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Fishbein said he was happy with Wehan’s four goals this weekend, but that eventually he wants to see other guys step up.
“He can’t keep carrying that weight,” he said. "Niko is going to start scoring goals, and once we get (sophomore forward) Sam Gleadle back, he is going to start scoring goals."
But Fishbein said his team gave a good performance against UCSB (1-1-1) overall, and this was only the beginning of what could be a great season.
“This was a big-time win,” he said. “I’m proud of the guys. This is something we can build on and carry momentum. Plus, we’re going to get guys back. (Junior defender) Yuri (Domiciano) and Sam (Gleadle) will be back full-time next week and get back in the mix. This is a team that’s going to keep getting better and better. I’m really proud of them.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @cisabelg.
