Front Page  sports

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Lobos Score Early in OT to Beat SJSU

By Glen Rosales
For the Journal
       After failing to generate much offense for most of regulation, it took the University of New Mexico men's soccer team less than two minutes of overtime to finish off San Jose State on Friday.
    Jack Smithson's pinpoint cross went directly to Justin Davis as he entered the goalie's area. Davis then flicked a header to the back post to give the Lobos a 1-0 victory at the UNM Soccer and Track Complex.
    "I saw two guys running in," Smithson said. "I was hoping one of them would get it."
    Davis said he made his move when he saw Smithson heading down the wing.
    "I saw him take the touch down the line and I kind of thought he would put it in there," he said.
    Smithson, a center midfielder, shouldered the blame for the Lobos' offensive woes.
    "I'll take a lot of blame for not getting the service in there," he said. "In the end, though, we got it done."
    New Mexico (5-4-2, 2-1 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play) really struggled in the first half and that might have been a product of nerves, said UNM coach Jeremy Fishbein.
    "We came out a little bit tight," he said. "This was a big game for us. They're all going to be like that from now on."
    The Spartans (4-3-3, 0-2) came out strong and nearly scored in the game's first 10 minutes.
    "I thought San Jose played really well for 70 minutes," Fishbein said. "They were better than we expected. That was a good team. They had one player that was really special. That No. 20 (Efrain Burgos Jr.), we gave him opportunities to win the game. Fortunately, he didn't."
    New Mexico began to pick up the pace more in the second half and started generating more scoring chances.
    That coincided with Michael Green coming off the bench into the midfield. Usually an attacking player, he provided an outlet for the defenders, then was able to start the offense going deep in the New Mexico end.
    "That was important for us," Smithson said. "He got us going out there."
    NOTE: The UNM women's team got a goal from Alexis Ball of La Cueva in the 70th minute to beat Air Force 1-0. The goal, which came off a header after a cross from Hannah Hand, was the sixth game-winner for Ball, moving her into third-place on the New Mexico (6-3-4, 1-1-0) career list. Hand's assist was her eighth this season, the third-highest total in school history. The shutout was the 19th of goalie Shannon Adragna's career.
    UNM SOCCER
       

---