United win but division title hopes fade with El Paso’s tie
The name of the game for the New Mexico United on Wednesday night was scoreboard watching. Needing a win in Salt Lake City against division rival Real Monarchs SLC, the United also needed a loss or a tie by El Paso in its game about 400 miles to the east in Colorado Springs, Colo., to have any shot at potentially winning the Group C regular season title.
Mission accomplished, but there are still a lot of unknowns.
New Mexico got a 1-0 win, scoring its lone goal from Joris Ahlinvi in the 57th minute. It came at 8:53 p.m., about the same time El Paso’s match ended in a scoreless tie against Colorado Springs.
El Paso (8-2-5) picked up one point for the draw, giving it 29 total points with one game remaining before the end of the regular season this weekend. At 8-4-3, New Mexico has 27 points and remains within striking distance of a Group C title, a claim that lands the winner a home match (COVID-19 health restrictions permitting) in the United Soccer League playoffs.
The second-place team gets a road game against Group D champion San Antonio FC, one of the top clubs in the USL. Winning the group is therefore a big deal.
The unknown is whether or not the United will be allowed to make up a match against Rio Grande Valley FC, the last-place team from Group D whose game against New Mexico on Sept. 23 was postponed due to coronavirus concerns on Rio Grande Valley’s side.
The United would need the three points from that match to win Group C, assuming El Paso also loses its regular season finale Sunday at home against Real Monarchs SLC. The problem is that Rio Grande Valley has a match against OKC Energy FC on Saturday, making it virtually impossible for New Mexico to make up any ground.
As for Wednesday’s match, Ahlinvi’s goal came on a bounding ball into the box that teammate Josh Suggs booted over the Real Monarchs goaltender, giving Ahlinvi the opportunity to head it in on the run.
New Mexico keeper Cody Mizell recorded his sixth clean sheet of the season.