United win 1-0 in overtime, advance to semifinals
The traveling band of soccer nomads isn’t done yet.
The New Mexico United stunned San Antonio FC in the opening round of the United Soccer League’s playoffs Saturday night, pulling off a 1-0 overtime win in the Western Conference quarterfinals at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas. It sends the United into next week’s semifinals against division rival El Paso, a winner in penalty kicks against visiting Tulsa on Saturday.
The game will be in El Paso on Oct. 17 since Locomotive FC was the regular season winner in Group C.
Making its second playoff appearance in as many years, New Mexico was largely outplayed during regulation but got the break it needed in the first of two 15-minute overtime halves when Chris Wehan scored in the 101st minute.
Taking a headed pass from David Najem just outside the box, Wehan flipped the ball to himself and worked his way around San Antonio’s Liam Doyle to fire a left-footed shot past a diving Matthew Cardone. San Antonio immediately argued the play, saying Wehan made contact with the ball with his right elbow after tapping the ball over Doyle to give himself a little space.
The goal stood, and from there the match turned into a street brawl with each team drawing multiple yellow cards, including one play in which New Mexico’s Devon Sandoval and San Antonio’s Mitchell Taintor collided and both fell to the grass five minutes after Wehan’s goal.
On the play, Mitchell appeared either to spit or gesture in Sandoval’s direction as the United player remained on his back on the pitch.
That exchange led to a brief shoving match that fed the tension for the final 14 minutes. Of the 10 yellow cards issued, eight of them came in the final 19 minutes of overtime.
As the action continued, New Mexico chewed up as much time as it could by slowing the game down and driving the ball out of its half as much as possible.
The broadcast on ESPN+ showed both head coaches have an animated exchange after the final whistle.
The United were outshot 17-10, with San Antonio’s last attempt coming on a shot from Cristian Parano with just two minutes left in stoppage time. The shot was blocked, helping the United send play the other way for the remainder of the game.
New Mexico improves to 9-4-3, having played all 16 matches on the road due to COVID-19 health guidelines that prohibit the team from playing at home in Albuquerque.
The loss was the first of the season at Toyota Field for San Antonio, which finished first in the USL’s Group D with a 10-4-3 record.