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Monday, September 15, 2008

UNM Knocked Back To Earth

By Glen Rosales
For the Journal
          It looked like a return to the top-25 was inevitable for the University of New Mexico men's soccer team after beating second-ranked Akron on Friday.
        But a lackluster effort against Cal-Poly and a hot opposing goalkeeper likely dashed those hopes.
        The Mustangs scored in each half while New Mexico (3-2-1) was stymied by goalie Eric Branagan-Franco until late in the match, leaving the Lobos on the short end of a 2-1 outcome.
        "It's pretty disappointing," said UNM coach Jeremy Fishbein. "We didn't show up to play in the first half. I thought we were well prepared. After a huge, emotional game a great team is going to come out and play well."
        Cal-Poly (3-2) scored both its goal following set pieces, which was the one thing Fishbein was concerned about from the Mustangs.
        "We knew they couldn't beat us up and down the field in open play," he said. "The only way this team was going to be able to compete with us was if we can gave them something and we did. They scored two nice goals on two dead balls."
        It didn't help that Branagan-Franco came up with seven saves, many of the acrobatic variety.
        "The 'keeper played great," Fishbein said. "But you've got to finish some of those and we've got to tighten things up a little bit. We need to be mature out there."
        And on one of New Mexico's best scoring chances, Branagan-Franco didn't even have to make a play.
        UNM forward Chris Wright had a chance inside the goalie's area and as he stepped back to unleash a point-blank shot, he went down.
        "I lost my footing," said a dejected Wright. "You can't let that happen to you there. It's something I just have to move beyond."
        Stephen Brown finally got New Mexico on the board with four minutes remaining and the Lobos played with an increased sense of urgency from that point. The Mustangs, however, did a good job of delaying the ball in the UNM end to thwart the effort.
        WOMEN: Thanks to a helping foot from Hannah Hand, the Lobos had a fairly easy win, beating Fairleigh Dickinson 5-0.
        It's the most goals New Mexico (3-1-3) has scored since 2004.
        "We've had a lot of frustration in scoring goals," Hand said. "We kind of took it out on this game. It was too bad for Fairleigh Dickinson."
        Hand assisted on two goals in the first eight minutes, giving her 16 to move into second on the UNM career list. Then for good measure, she added a second-half goal of her own on a breakaway.
        Achieving personal goals, however, is not all that important to the senior midfielder.
        "It doesn't really matter to me," Hand said. "It's nice to see something for your efforts, but what's more important is that we won."
        And what a win it was as the Lobos dominated in all phases of the game. The Knights were held without a shot on goal. UNM scored its final two goals on penalty kicks after swarming the goal.
        "All the goals were good," Lobos coach Kit Vela said. "But the first two were really good. I'm real proud of those goals."
        UNM goalkeeper Shannon Adragna's shutout was her third of the season. It gives her 16 for her career to move her into a second-place tie with Melissa Liston on the all-time list.
        Up Next:
        Men: Friday against Portland in Seattle, Wash., 5:30 p.m.
        Women: Friday against San Diego in Westwood, Calif., 8:30 p.m.