UNM women beat UNLV; Lobo men tie
goalkeeper Elly Reynada and trickled over the line.
“I was watching it the entire way, thinking please don’t get there” Lynch said of the scrambling UNLV (8-2) defense. “We work a lot on game management when we’re up to work the clock, not letting them get into a flow.”
A tight, plodding first 45 minutes gave way to a frenetic second half as all three goals came after halftime.
Just eight minutes after the intermission UNM junior defender Jessica Nelson opened the scoring. She pounced on a loose ball off a Lobo set piece and hammered a shot far post into the upper corner.
“I don’t usually get the chance but we talk a lot about being brave in the box,” Nelson said.
UNLV answered less than two minutes later when Caitlyn Kreutz thumped home an equalizer.
In the 67th minute, UNLV’s deflected shot floated off the UNM crossbar, the second Rebel shot to hit the crossbar on the evening. Lobo goalkeeper Emily Johnson grabbed the rebound. Johnson got a strong hand to a cross in the 70th minute with Rebel attackers waiting.
Surviving those scares set the stage for Lynch’s late heroics.
Both teams played narrowly in the first half, failing to explore the full expanse of the pitch. As a result, the cluttered middle caused numerous deflections and turnovers that thwarted attacking combination play.
In addition, the strong winds complicated crosses and long balls, frustrating vertical attacking efforts.
The Lobos have multiple weapons to add a little spark to the formality of a throw in. Nelson and senior defender Alex Cabrelas’ use long throws to force opponents to mark and organize to defend these bonus set pieces.
UNLV played a high line on Lobo set pieces catching the Lobos offside multiple times. UNLV timed the trap perfectly leaving numerous Lobo attackers stranded. UNM hosts Nevada (1-7) on Sunday at 1 p.m. UNM MEN 2, SOUTH CAROLINA 2 (tie): In Columbia, S.C., Lobo senior Sam Gleadle scored with 1:17 left in regulation, collecting a ball off of a deflection and firing from just outside 18 yards to force the pair of overtime periods in the Conference USA match.
The Lobos (4-3-1, 0-1-1) dominated the offensive statistics throughout the match, nearly doubling South Carolina’s (4-31, 0-2-1) shot attempts 23-14 and shots on goal 10-6. In addition, the Lobos collected seven corners to just one for the Gamecocks. UNM tied the match twice to hang in and force extra minutes.
“I have mixed feelings about this one,” UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “I thought it was a game we should have handled. That being said, we allowed two goals, but we showed a lot of mental fortitude to rebound and equalize in both situations.
“We need to look at this game and take the positives from it. We scored two goals, but we need to get some shutouts and we can’t give openings. I think that will happen. We are a team that keeps getting better, a team that expects to win, and that’s a great mindset moving forward.”