Two down, one to go. The Lobos finished their second exhibition match with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Fort Lewis Skyhawks on Thursday morning.
The Lobos were coming off of a 3-0 win against the UNLV Rebels earlier this week, which allowed UNM to enter Thursday’s match with confidence.
Juts over two minutes into the match, midfielder Simon Spangenberg took advantage of a loose ball and sent a shot straight into the center of the Fort Lewis net.
The rest of the first half went with a few more chances that weren't capitalized on. The second half, however, saw more action.
In the 57th minute, Fort Lewis received a yellow card that gifted redshirt Gabriel Camera a free kick.
Camera’s shot hit the left post, but junior forward Luke Lawrence found the ball and sent it senior forward Niko Hansen’s way. Hansen took care of the rest and scored his third goal of the week. He scored twice for UNM in Monday's match against UNLV.
Less then two minutes later, UNM received another free kick. This time, Camera was able to find the back of the net.
The Lobos had a comfortable 3-0 lead, and in the 67th minute saw another opportunity to increase it.
A penalty by the Skyhawks gave redshirt freshman Devin Boyce a chance at a penalty shot from 12 yards away. Boyce sent a promising shot toward the right side of the net, but Fort Lewis goalkeeper Elliot Chadderton dove to make the save.
Boyce did not get to claim the fourth goal of the match, but he did help make it happen later.
With 1:08 left on the clock, Boyce took a corner kick that allowed freshman midfielder Billy Jones to send a header into the back of the net.
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the Lobos might have gotten a little too comfortable after getting an early goal, but added he liked what he saw in the match's second half that boded well for the future of the program as well as the present.
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“The second half we started a bunch of the young guys who I think felt they really had something to prove, played a little bit different energy,” he said in a statement.
By the end of the match, New Mexico led 15-4 in shots and 10-2 in corner kicks. It was also the team’s second exhibition shutout with junior Jason Beaulieu as the starting goalkeeper.
The results against Fort Lewis were good, but Fishbein said he is not going to read too much into it. His focus now is on the team’s third and final exhibition match happening later this week.
"We've got a great test Saturday night against the University of Washington, and I think going into the season we'll have a good feel for everything," he said.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men's soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
