The Lobos kept grinding and finally got their reward.
After losing its first three Conference USA matches this season, the UNM men’s soccer team (7-4-2, 1-3-0 C-USA) got a much-needed “W” in a 3-2 home victory over the Alabama-Birmingham Sunday night.
Although he said he was happy with the win, UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the game was far from perfect. The Lobos had to fight their way up by coming back from a 2-0 deficit.
UAB’s senior defender Ian Svantesson gave the Blazers the lead in the 9th minute. This goal came due to a mistake during clearance. Aside from that, the first half was slow for both teams. The Lobos led 5-2 in corner kicks, and slightly in shots with 6 over UAB’s 4.
“We opened the game a little bit tired. I think after halftime, the coach gave us a buzz and we came back on the field with another mentality,” Lobo midfielder Francesco Casucci said.
Whatever talk Fishbein gave during halftime, it certainly worked. The energy was completely different in the second half.
Just 18 seconds in, senior forward Freddy Ruiz, assisted by Svantesson, increased the Blazer’s lead to 2-0. But five minutes later, the Lobos woke up. Casucci, assisted by junior midfielder Josh Goss, took a header that put his team on the scoreboard.
However, the Blazers still held the lead.
“We were losing 2-1 so I was thinking about making another goal, and it happened, so that was nice,” Casucci said.
Casucci put another one in the net less than 10 minutes after his first goal. A foul by the Blazers allowed the Lobos a free kick, and Casucci curved the ball from the left of the 18-yard box like he’d been practicing that shot for a while.
“I used to practice when the guys leave,” he said. “I stay with one of the goalkeepers 15 minutes and have some shots from there. It was a nice shot. I’m happy.”
In the 72nd minute, it was sophomore forward Sam Gleadle who stepped up and scored the game-winner. Casucci sent a cross to junior midfielder Chris Wehan, who then sent the ball to Gleadle.
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"I thought about not going for it, but it's Wehan," Gleadle said. "You have to think he's going to connect with the ball. Luckily I was there and he put it across. It was a good goal."
The game ended with the Lobos leading 20-7 in shots and 9-2 in corner kicks.
"What we said at halftime was we're going to score three in the second half," Fishbien said. "I didn't think it would be 3-2, I was hoping it'd be 3-1, but we played well, we figured things out.”
Fishbein said coming back from two goals down was a big accomplishment and that the Lobos have to keep on building on this win for the final four matches of the season.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
