They did it — the Lobos became the 2016 Conference USA Champions after blanking last year’s victors, the Florida International Panthers, 3-0 on Sunday afternoon.
It marks the program’s first title since joining the conference in 2013. That year, the Lobos finished the regular season on top of the standings, but fell 3-0 to Tulsa in the semifinal round.
This year, the Lobos finally get to hold the trophy for the first time, and head coach Jeremy Fishbein said he couldn’t be happier.
“I’m pretty proud of this group. I can’t say enough about these seniors who went through some tough times,” Fishbein said in a statement after the match.
The coach seemed like he had more to say, but he caught something out of the corner of his eye that caused him to pause.
“Don’t do it,” he said with a smile.
The team surprised him from behind and showered him with water and blue Gatorade, as they began celebrating and jumping around their coach.
The first half of Sunday’s match went scoreless and without many clear chances. The biggest opportunity came for New Mexico in the 39th minute when midfielder Simon Spangenberg came off the bench and was inches away from scoring, but the ball hit the crossbar.
The first shot on goal for FIU came with two minutes remaining in the half. It was a weak attempt, and UNM starting goalkeeper Jason Beaulieu was able to save it easily.
The relatively calm first half was followed by a strong attacking third performance by the Lobos in the second period.
Forward Niko Hansen — the Lobos’ most consistent offensive force all season — scored the first goal of the day in the 68th minute with some help by midfielder Chris Wehan.
Wehan went on to score one of his own in the 84th minute when FIU goalkeeper Daniel Gagliardi left the net completely open. It was Wehan’s eighth goal of the season, and 31st overall in his Lobo career.
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With time winding down, the Lobos didn’t stop at two scores. Hansen found the net once again in the 87th minute. The goal was the forward’s 13th on the season, and No. 28 for his UNM career.
Although the championship game was lopsided, the Lobos’ path to the final was anything but easy.
New Mexico’s first challenge was Kentucky, a team that earlier in the season had blanked the Lobos 1-0. The two teams met in quarterfinals and the match was even tighter.
That game was still tied after two overtime periods and went to penalty kicks to decide which team would advance.
Goalkeeper Ford Parker made four of the five saves to help the Lobos walk away 2-1 in PKs.
During the semifinals, New Mexico took down the C-USA No. 1 seed, the Charlotte 49ers. The Lobos were underdogs, but dispatched of the fifth-ranked team in the nation, pulling off a 2-1 upset to earn a spot in Sunday’s championship game.
With the victory over FIU, New Mexico now has its ticket punched to the 2016 NCAA Tournament. This is a particularly sweet victory for the program, as the team was left out of the tournament during the past two years.
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.
