The UNM men’s soccer team fell 2-1 in its Conference USA opener to the South Carolina Gamecocks during an overtime battle.
The Lobos (5-2-1, 0-1-0 C-USA) came into tonight’s match with a five-game winning streak and a No. 7 national ranking. However, this didn’t intimidate the Gamecocks (5-2-1, 2-0-0).
South Carolina took the initiative and scored just a little over two minutes into the match. Senior forward Kevin Walker recorded his third goal of the season from inside the box with the help of his teammates Koty Millard and Asa Kryst.
In the 8th minute, the Lobos began their own attacks. Senior midfielder Josh Dye took a shot from the top of the box, but was blocked by the South Carolina defense.
Six minutes later, freshman midfielder Kasper Kajermo had an opportunity of his own, but his shot was also blocked.
Just two minutes after that, Sam Gleadle took a shot on goal from 13 yards out, but South Carolina’s keeper, William Pyle, made the save.
The first half of the match ended with the Lobos leading 6-3 in shots and 2-0 in corner kicks. However, they trailed 1-0 where it really mattered.
The Lobos haven’t scored a goal in the first half of any match this season. UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said not scoring early was putting the Lobos in dangerous situations.
"It's not fair to the guys to say we came out casually," he said in a statement, "but it's been a bit of a repeating trend to not play with urgency in the first half. This team has a lot of belief, but you can't put yourself in that situation too many times. It finally came back to bite us tonight."
Outside the first three minutes of the match, Fishbein thought the Lobos played a good game.
“The problem was (the early goal) played into SC's hands. They could play deeper defensively and look to counter," he said in the release.
South Carolina lead 8-3 in second half shots, and it looked as if the Gamecocks would finish regulation time with a win.
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That was until the 86th minute.
Freshman midfielder Patrick Khouri fought off a defender near the top of the box. He went on to send the ball to junior midfielder Christopher Wehan, who was taken down a couple steps into the 18-yard box. This led to the Lobos getting a penalty kick.
Wehan took the shot and sent it straight to the right side of the net to tie the game 1-1.
During overtime, each team had a few close chances of scoring, but in the end it was a shot by senior forward/midfielder Jeffrey Torda in the 99th minute that awarded the Gamecocks a 2-1 win.
"This is a tough conference to go on the road," Fishbein said in the statement. "We have to quickly put this one behind us. We're home for the next two and get to face a good team on Wednesday. We have a lot to look forward to."
The Lobos will host San Francisco on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a non-conference match at the UNM Soccer Complex.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @cisabelg.
